Universal Pictures to sue if its movies are used to train AI

Universal Pictures is adding a legal warning in the end credits of its movies to prevent big tech from training artificial intelligence systems on its titles.

Starting with How to Train Your Dragon, which released in June, the studio stated its titles “may not be used to train AI”, reported The Hollywood Reporter. This was followed by the standard warning: “This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.”

The message has also appeared during the end credits of Jurassic World Rebirth and Bad Guys 2. In some countries, it cites the 2019 European Union copyright law that allows creators to opt out of having their material used in scientific research by explicitly reserving their rights.

This move comes at a time when viewers can also choose AI-generated clips and stories that borrow from studios’ intellectual property — a trend gaining industry backing. In July, Amazon invested an undisclosed sum in Fable Studios-owned Showrunner, an AI-content platform that lets users create episodes with just a short text prompt.

“Hollywood streaming services are about to become two-way entertainment: audiences watching a season of a show, loving it, will now be able to make new episodes with a few words and become characters with a photo,” Edward Saatchi of Fable Studios was quoted as saying by The Hollywood Reporter. “Our relationship to entertainment will be totally different in the next 5 years. We can do so much more with AI.”

In June, Disney and Universal Pictures sued AI-image generator Midjourney for plagiarism after it created numerous copies of characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Frozen’s Elsa, and the Minions from Despicable Me, as per the BBC. The complaint said Midjourney made $300 million last year and is planning a “soon-to-be-released video service”.

Hollywood is also using AI in production. Emilia Pérez, a musical crime comedy, used the technology to enhance lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón’s singing by blending her voice with that of French pop star Camille, who co-wrote the film. Brutalist used AI to refine the Hungarian accents of lead actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.