Copyrighted materials is copyrighted regardless of who makes it. If the image is generated on an AI platform that has copyright requirements, then clearly Entourage and our schools need to abide by those copyright requirements, regardless of it is is made by an AI or a person. A majority of AI image generation sites DO NOT have copyright requirements at this time but there are a number that do. Particularly those that generate things like Headshots that they then sell to the consumer.

AI image generation leverage their extensive neural networks to essentially “stitch” together image artifacts and constructs to generate the AI images we see. There is continuing debate about how much modification from an original image that a person or AI needs to do, to an original photo or art piece, in order for it not be to construed as infringement on the original existing copyrights. How this is applied is also different based on who holds the copyright. (e.g., Disney has a broader and stricter stance on what is copyrighted and not based on their characters than say images on Shutterstock)

These laws and how they’re implemented will continue to be an area for debate and discussion before hard rules are in place to protect original artists and also allow for the proliferation of the benefits of Generative AI. Entourage’s stance should be that we must protect original artists but at the same time, we must not get ahead of the laws and the best practices that are used in the publishing industry.