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by citizenpaul 8 days ago
I live in SV. When I was at the grocery store last year I overheard a group of lawyers talking about their progress on litigation against AI companies and how they need more SWE help to progress.

I'd say that they have valid concerns about being cagey on the copyright stuff despite the obvious hypocrisy of it.

Stealing IP is effectively legal in China so they don't really have the same concerns.
2 comments
htlemur_bobby 8 days ago
To us Americans we have been trained to view it that way but honestly it is simply copying, and because intellectual property is literally a make believe concept, it’s actually a competitive advantage for china that they don’t have invented IP.

I respect IP laws and don’t violate them but the law of unintended consequences applies. I think IP is ultimately a net loss for a society because it incentivizes addictive behaviors instead of actual value for society.

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spwa4 8 days ago
Legal in the US too, obviously, just as long as you're the richest person in the courtroom. ChatGPT knows the full text of Harry Potter, word for word. Hence, ChatGPT is a reproduction of that book and many others (it even knows the chapters of my book, and only got 2 words wrong in the introduction if you can still get it to repro it)

This was illegal when they did it, that didn't matter.

Then it was made legal specifically for these companies.

Unless you're a sucker ("consumer") IP theft is perfectly legal in the US.

It's even worse. Steamboat willie, plus all the stolen Disney characters (Peter Pan, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna, it's essentially all of them, including some of the music even) are all in the public domain[1]. Go ahead, ask ChatGPT to make a picture of them. Publish your own version, because obviously making a version of Sleeping Beauty/Cinderella/Rapunzel based on the same source material will be pretty damn close to the Disney versions, and see if you get away with it in court. You know, with the law obviously on your side but the money not.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_animated_films_...

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