Fans of Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation studio behind “Spirited Away” and other beloved movies, were delighted this week when a new version of ChatGPT let them transform popular internet memes or personal photos into the distinct style of Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki.
I personally think copyright should be abolished, but for that to be actually effective and fair and just, copyright must be totally abolished everywhere in the world at the same time. Either everyone has copyright or no one has.
Why? Inconsistent copyright laws would allow regions with copyright laws to exploit regions that don’t. Regions without copyright law would be sanctioned by regions with copyright (as it already happens). It’d lead to massive trade and cultural exchange problems. People on both sides couldn’t trust the copyright status either way on international contexts.
And I think the whole AI copyright debate is a microcosm of that. The law isn’t clearly established, and AI companies argue copyright should not apply, while insisting copyright actually should apply to other stuff they’re making. When the AI companies are arguing they should be able to jack copyrighted works for AI training, they’re not fighting for universal copyright abolition, they’re exploiting the unclear situation and power imbalance in their favour. This is why you can’t take small steps towards copyright abolition, it has to be all or nothing.