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OpenAI is vowing to provide copyright holders with increased oversight regarding character generation following its newly launched application, Sora 2, generated a flood of clips depicting copyrighted figures.

The Video Generator’s Release and Early Issues

Sora 2, powered by AI, was rolled out last week on an exclusive basis. This tool enables users to produce short videos based on a written description. Initial assessments of the machine-created video feed showed copyrighted characters from well-loved shows such as animated series, South Park, Pokémon and sci-fi comedies.

Prior to the release of Sora 2, OpenAI reportedly informed talent agencies and studios that if they wished to avoid their copyrighted material copied by the AI tool, they would have to opt out.

“We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”

OpenAI stated that content owners can flag unauthorized use using a dedicated reporting tool, but creators or studios are not granted a universal exclusion.

Leadership’s Response and Future Strategies

Recently, the company’s leader Sam Altman announced in a public statement that the organization had been “taking feedback” from users, rights holders and stakeholders, and would make adjustments as a result.

He mentioned that copyright owners would be given more “granular control” over the creation of characters, similar to how people can choose to use their own likeness in the app, but with extra safeguards.

“We are hearing from a lot of rightsholders who are very excited for this new kind of ‘interactive fan fiction’ and think this new kind of engagement will accrue a lot of value to them, but want the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all).”

Addressing Edge Cases and Monetization Plans

The CEO stated that OpenAI would allow copyright owners to determine their approach and that there would be some unusual instances of content that bypass the platform’s guardrails that should not.

He added that the organization would also need to generate revenue from video generation, and currently the platform was observing people generating much more material than expected per user. He suggested payment to rights holders who grant permission their characters to be generated.

“We will need to experiment with different approaches to finalize the revenue structure, but implementation is imminent,” Altman said. “We anticipate that this novel interaction will surpass monetary gains in importance, though we aim for both aspects to be beneficial.”

Altman finished by noting that there would be a high rate of evolution, comparable to the initial stages of ChatGPT, and there would be both successful choices and occasional errors.