What the fuck are the studios gonna do, make movies and shows without actors?
Highlights: The negotiating committee of the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, told its members on Saturday that it had received a “Last, Best and Final Offer” from the major entertainment studios as a strike that has brought much of Hollywood to a standstill continued for a 114th day.
“We are reviewing it and considering our response within the context of the critical issues addressed in our proposals,” the negotiating committee said. They did not say when they would respond to the offer, which came after an hourlong video conference call that included top studio executives.
Included in the offer was a wage increase that could be the highest in four decades, according to a person familiar with the offer who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. The studios also offered the actors a new way to determine residuals for streaming programs based on performance metrics, and protections on artificial intelligence, including consent and compensation requirements. The studios also offered an increase to the pension and health funds.
I highly doubt this for one big reason: The courts have already ruled that AI generated content isn’t eligible for copyright protection.
Suppose a studio managed to make a Big AI Action Franchise using only AI. They wouldn’t be able to copyright any of the movie. This would mean that people could download and share it freely. Streaming services could put it online without needing to pay the studio that “made” the film. Movie theaters could get a copy online and show it instead of paying for copies.
A copyright free AI Movie would be a revenue disaster. And we know that if there’s one thing the studios care about, it’s money.
Okay? Where’s that line? Do we need one voice actor? A human “director”? Trust capitalism to find the limit. Also the judiciary is looking pretty compromised these days. There’s a good chance the corporations bat their eyes at the judges and suddenly the studio’s rights are recognized but not any individual creators.
That line is whatever you want to copyright.
So if you make an AI generated movie and then add one voice actor, then I can copy and sell everything except the voice actor.
I can copy the movie replacing the voice actor with another, edit them out entirely, write and sell a novelization, use the images from your movie to make action figures and T shirts…