Alongside an international coalition of creative industry organizations, The Writers' Union of Canada is mobilizing to gather signatories on a Statement on AI training. Thousands of writers, musicians, actors, artists, and other creators agree: Training generative AI on people's work without permission must not be allowed. Please join us and sign the following statement:
“The works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.”unlicensed use of creative
Why now?
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Lots of generative AI companies train on creators’ work without a license to do so.
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This is a major issue for many of the authors, artists, musicians, actors, and other creators whose work is being exploited by AI companies.
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This is a critical time for creators around the world: in the U.S., there are multiple ongoing lawsuits that have been brought due to unlicensed training; in the UK, the government has said it would like to change copyright law and allow AI companies to train on copyrighted work without a license. Meanwhile, AI firms wishing to avoid meaningful regulation are relentlessly lobbying the Canadian government. Cultural sector organizations, like TWUC, are speaking out loudly to make sure artists’ rights are protected and preserved.
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We think it’s important to hear directly from the creators whose work is being exploited.
For additional information:
John Degen, Chief Executive Officer
The Writers’ Union of Canada
jdegen@writersunion.ca
DATE: October 22, 2024
