Artist Protection Against Artificial Intelligence Act

20th April 2024

DRAFTED BY: REV. PHILLIP K.

INTRODUCTION

Technology has become a large part of our daily lives as Americans and as this technology evolves so must the laws and regulations surrounding that technology. Over recent years, there has been a surge in new artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Grammarly, and so on. Many of these current programs can create different forms of media such as art, music, animation, and video, but these AI programs reference and use bits of media authentically made by artists and other copyright holders. These AI programs do not ask for permission or proper licensing for use of the media they are referencing thereby violating the rights of copyright holders in the United States. 
 

The purpose of the Artist Protection Act would be to make current and future AI programs list the websites that they reference or use to create the new media and must only pull or reference from media that is in the public domain or labeled as free to use by the artist/copyright holder. By doing this, users will be able to see what media was used by the AI program to create the new media so to ensure that no copyrights were violated. 
 

This bill is just a stepping stone to protect artists and copyright holders while allowing software companies to continue developing AI programs. Copyrights are very important to US citizens as it protects the creator and gives them the exclusive rights of reproduction, adaptation, publication, performance, and display of their creation. This aids and protects citizens from their art being illegally stolen or used. 

AI programs are in their infancy and have already caused disruptions in business, data privacy, loss of employment, false impersonation, and academic fraud. If we do not regulate artificial intelligence then artificial intelligence will start regulating us. 

 

H.R./S.
 

Artist Protection Against Artificial Intelligence Act

 

In the House of Representatives/Senate

 

Date: 4/20/2024

 

Drafted by: Rev. Phillip Kopp

 

 

Artist Protection Against Artificial Intelligence Act

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.

 

SEC.1.

The short title: Artist Protection Act (APA) , will protect artists and other copyright holders by regulating software companies that create artificial intelligent programs and/or software to only use references that are in the public domain or listed as “copyright-free” or “free to use” by the artist and/or the copyright holder to make new forms of art and/or media.

 

 

SEC. 2. Terminology:
 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): computer systems or programs that are able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

• Web Scraping: the process of extracting content and data from other websites using JavaScript and HTML code to be used on a different website or application.

• Screen Scraping: the process of copying pixels displayed on a screen from other websites to be used for another website or application.

• Artist: a person who produces various forms of art using different mediums such as paint, pencil, music, video, film, sculptures, etc.

• Copyright: the exclusive legal right given to an originator to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material and to authorize others to do the same.

• User: an individual who uses computers and computer programs.

 

SEC. 3. Bill:

 

The Artist Protection Act requires that any program or application that claims to be or use Artificial Intelligence or any form of web scraping or screen scraping must only reference or use sources of art or media that are in the public domain or labeled by the creator to be free to use without permission.
 

AI programs that reference different forms of media such as pictures, paintings, sculptures, music, videos, films, books, graphic novels, comic books, or any other form of copyrighted media and/or art must list the web addresses and/or location of all media that was referenced by the AI program in the process to create the new art or media requested by the user. This list must be made available upon creation of the new media in the form of a text file that can be viewed and downloaded by the user.
 

If any art or media is referenced by any AI program is not clear if it is in the public domain or free to use by the copyright holder, must not be used or the copyright holder must be contacted by the software company that created the AI program or the user that prompted the AI program and receive written permission to use the art or media.

 

SEC. 4. Enforcement

 

This bill will be enforced by the Federal Courts which interpret and enforce copyright law. Punishments should follow similar guidelines that are included by but not limited to the United States Department of Justice which can be found in the Criminal Resource Manual - 1852. Copyright Infringement - Penalties - 17 U.S.C 506(a) and 18 U.S.C 2319, listed here:

 

Statutory penalties are found at 18 U.S.C. § 2319. A defendant, convicted for the first time of violating 17 U.S.C. §  506(a) by the unauthorized reproduction or distribution, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies or phonorecords, or 1 or more copyrighted works, with a retail value of more than $2,500 can be imprisoned for up to 5 years and fined up to $250,000, or both. 18 U.S.C. §§ 2319(b), 3571(b)(3).

Defendants who have previously been convicted of criminal copyright infringement under 18 U.S.C. § 2319(b)(1) may be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both. Finally, a defendant is guilty of a misdemeanor violation if he violated rights other than those of reproduction or distribution, or has reproduced or distributed less than the requisite number of copies, or if the retail value of the copies reproduced or distributed did not meet the statutory minimum, or if other elements of 17 U.S.C. § 506(a) are not satisfied. Misdemeanants can be sentenced a maximum of one year and can be fined a maximum of $100,000. See 18 U.S.C. §§  2319(b)(3), 3571(b)(5).
 

Sentences for criminal copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting are currently determined by reference to section 2B5.3 of the Sentencing Guidelines. That guideline establishes, as a Specific Offense characteristic, that if "the retail value of the infringing items exceeded $2,000," then the guideline level is to be increased by the corresponding number of levels from the table in section 2F1.1. The Commentary further makes clear that the term "infringing items," as used above, "means the items that violate the copyright or trademark laws (not the legitimate items that are infringed upon)." It is not entirely clear, however, what is meant by "retail value" in this context, and courts have relied upon a number of methods to achieve equitable results. Prior to the sentencing phase in intellectual property cases, prosecutors are advised to consult with the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and to review pertinent portions of that Section's Intellectual Property Rights Prosecution Manual.
 

These sentencing provisions affect the plea negotiation process in two ways. First, because a plea involving these enhanced penalties must include recognition of the number of infringing copies involved in the offense, the prosecutor must establish a factual record to support the sentence. In addition, by tying the most severe sanction to copyright recidivists, 18 U.S.C. § 2319 introduces an additional element into plea negotiations. In cases involving individual and corporate defendants, prosecutors may wish to obtain individual pleas, since those pleas could be used in subsequent prosecutions to enhance a defendant's sentence.

 

All copyright laws should be followed by the software companies that use or claim to use AI which are listed in the Copyright Act of 1976, Copyright Law of the United States, Title 17, and by the United States Constitution, Article I Section 8, clause 8.

 

 

 

SEC.6. Effective Date:

 

The Artist Protection Act should go into effect no later than 90 days after being signed by the President of the United States or its otherwise becoming law.