THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • The Human Consent Foundation, a nonprofit backed by Cate Blanchett, filed a 31-page amicus brief on October 30 in the Times' copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
  • CAA, the Music Artists Coalition and the National Association of Voice Actors are among the co-signers; actors including Anne Hathaway and Emma Thompson are listed in an appendix.
  • The brief disputes the defendants' claim that licensing works for AI training is too costly, pointing to collective licensing systems that have run for decades.

A group of Hollywood artists and organizations has entered the copyright fight between The New York Times and OpenAI and Microsoft. The Human Consent Foundation, a nonprofit backed by actor Cate Blanchett that campaigns for control over how AI systems use people's work and likenesses, filed a 31-page amicus brief on Friday, October 30, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to TheWrap and Variety.

Who signed and what they argue

Co-signers include the talent agency CAA, the Music Artists Coalition and the National Association of Voice Actors, both outlets report. An appendix lists supporters such as Anne Hathaway, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Ron Howard, Madonna and Olivia Wilde.

The filing takes aim at two points raised by the defendants: that licensing creative works for AI training would be prohibitively expensive, and that there is no established method for putting a price on training data. The coalition contends that both claims misread how the entertainment business operates. It points to collective licensing bodies, such as the music rights organization BMI, which have long issued blanket licenses and used metadata systems to clear rights for works held by many separate owners. In her section, Blanchett describes the chain-of-title checks and rights management she says have applied throughout a career of more than 30 years.

Nikki Hexum, the foundation's co-founder and CEO, told Variety the aim was to show the court how the creative industry actually works, adding that a licensing market already exists.

A growing pile of outside filings

The brief arrived a day after SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America and the American Federation of Musicians filed their own brief opposing a broad fair use exemption for AI training. Variety reports that the unions argue such a ruling would undercut terms they negotiated with studios and harm the people who create the work, not only rights holders.

The Times sued in December 2023, alleging that OpenAI and Microsoft used its journalism without permission or payment to build competing products. Neither company had responded to TheWrap's request for comment at the time of publication, and neither outlet reported a ruling date.

What remains open

Amicus briefs are not evidence and do not bind the court; they offer perspectives the judge may or may not weigh. Whether the court accepts the coalition's view that a workable licensing market exists for AI training, rather than only for traditional film, music and voice uses, is still to be decided.