A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a new bill aimed at protecting artists, songwriters, and journalists from unauthorized use of their content by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The bill, titled the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act (COPIED Act), also addresses the growing issue of harmful deepfakes and seeks to improve the identification of AI-generated content.
The COPIED Act, co-authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Senate AI Working Group member Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Commerce Committee member Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), contains several significant measures designed to safeguard original content:
- Content Provenance Information: The bill mandates that within two years, AI tool developers must enable users to attach content provenance information to their digital creations. This machine-readable information will document the origin of digital content, including photos and news articles.
- Restriction on AI Training: Content embedded with provenance information cannot be used to train AI models or generate AI content without the owner’s consent.
- Protection and Compensation for Content Owners: The bill empowers content owners, such as journalists, artists, and songwriters, to set the terms of use for their work, including seeking compensation. It also grants them the right to sue platforms that use their content without permission or tamper with provenance information.
- NIST Guidelines: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will be responsible for developing guidelines and standards for content provenance, watermarking, and synthetic content detection. These standards will help determine if content has been AI-generated or altered and trace the origin of AI-generated content.
Supporting Voices
Senator Cantwell emphasized the importance of transparency and control for creators in her press release: “The bipartisan COPIED Act I introduced with Senator Blackburn and Senator Heinrich will provide much-needed transparency around AI-generated content. The COPIED Act will also put creators, including local journalists, artists, and musicians, back in control of their content with a provenance and watermark process that I think is very much needed.”
Several artists’ and journalists’ groups have expressed their support for the bill, including SAG-AFTRA, the National Music Publishers’ Association, The Seattle Times, the Songwriters Guild of America, and the Artist Rights Alliance.
The introduction of the COPIED Act comes amidst a surge of legislative efforts to regulate AI technology. In recent months, numerous bills have been introduced at both the federal and state levels, addressing various aspects of AI use and its societal impacts:
- Take It Down Act: Last month, Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill aimed at holding social media companies accountable for removing and policing deepfake pornographic content. This bill was prompted by the rise of AI-generated pornographic images of celebrities circulating on social media.
- AI Regulation Roadmap: In May, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer presented a comprehensive “roadmap” for addressing AI. This proposal includes boosting funding for AI innovation, combating the use of deepfakes in elections, and utilizing AI to strengthen national security.
- State-Level Legislation: According to Axios, state legislatures are introducing approximately 50 AI-related bills per week. As of February, over 407 AI-related bills had been introduced across more than 40 states, marking a significant increase from the 67 bills introduced the previous year.
Executive Action and Political Landscape
In October, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to establish standards for AI safety and security. This order requires AI developers to share their safety test results and other critical information with the government before deploying their systems to the public. However, former President Donald Trump has pledged to repeal this executive order if re-elected, highlighting the ongoing political debate surrounding AI regulation.
The COPIED Act represents a significant legislative effort to protect the intellectual property rights of artists, songwriters, and journalists in the age of AI. By establishing content provenance standards and enabling creators to control the use of their work, the bill aims to ensure fair compensation and combat the misuse of AI-generated content. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, such legislative measures will play a crucial role in balancing innovation with the rights and interests of content creators.
