TL;DR

Hundreds of artists including Scarlett Johansson, Cyndi Lauper, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have launched “Stealing Isn’t Innovation,” a campaign demanding AI companies license creative works rather than training on them without compensation.

”A Better Way Exists”

The campaign website states that “some of the biggest tech companies are using American creators’ work to build AI platforms without authorization or regard for copyright law.” The signatories are clear in their assessment: “It’s not progress. It’s theft—plain and simple.”

What’s notable is that the campaign doesn’t call for AI companies to stop using creative works entirely. Instead, the signatories propose “licensing deals and partnerships” as a “responsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use.”

This pragmatic stance suggests creative industries are looking for a seat at the table rather than trying to halt AI development altogether.

A Long-Running Dispute

The way AI firms train their tools on artistic content has remained contentious for years. A 2023 lawsuit alleged that AI companies were breaching copyright laws by training on created works without permission. Yet despite ongoing legal challenges, major tech firms have continued their training practices largely unchanged.

The participation of high-profile names like Johansson—who previously had a public dispute with OpenAI over a voice assistant she said mimicked her voice—adds weight to the campaign. Whether it translates into changed industry practices remains to be seen.

Looking Forward

The campaign represents a coordinated push by creative professionals to establish new norms around AI training data. As AI-generated content becomes increasingly sophisticated, the question of how original creators should be compensated—or whether they should be compensated at all—will only grow more pressing.