WGA Urges Disney, Sony, Netflix to Sue Apple, Meta, Salesforce Over AI Training

Dec 12, 2024, 09:23 PM

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has issued a strong call to major Hollywood studios, including Disney, Sony, and Netflix, to take 'immediate legal action' against tech companies accused of using writers' work to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems without consent or compensation. The WGA's letter to studio CEOs, signed by the WGAW Board of Directors and the WGAE Council, highlights the unauthorized use of copyrighted material by tech firms like Apple, Meta, and Salesforce, claiming that studios have failed to protect their intellectual property, thereby harming WGA members. The guild argues that the studios' inaction violates their collective bargaining agreement, specifically Articles 50 and 16.B of the MBA, which mandate the defense of copyrights on behalf of writers. The WGA's demand comes in response to a recent Atlantic article that confirmed the use of thousands of films and TV episodes in AI training datasets, emphasizing the need for studios to actively combat this form of intellectual property theft.