"Building and Using Generative Models Under US Copyright Law," Rutgers Business Law Review

In a recent article for Rutgers Business Law Review, Van Lindberg discusses advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). AI continues to expand our capabilities and generative machine learning (ML) tools has sparked considerable interest and debate. While these tools are capable of creating new text, code, images and music that rival human capabilities, the use of copyrighted materials for training raises questions surrounding copyright infringement and fair use. 

In this article, Lindberg provides a comprehensive analysis of the copyright issues associated with machine learning in two parts. First, he provides a description of machine learning technology accessible to non-scientists, explaining machine learning models, how they are trained, and how they are used to generate new works.

He also analyzes applicable copyright law. Lindberg compares ML to technologies reviewed in previous cases and finds robust support in case law to argue that the development and use of generative ML models in most cases falls outside the scope of copyright or constitutes fair use.