A tentative ruling in the AI copyright lawsuit is favorable towards artists Sarah Andersen, Karla Ortiz & Kelly McKernan, allowing discovery to proceed. This lawsuit could potentially alter copyright law in the era of Generative AI.
The plaintiffs have allegedly presented facts suggesting that compressed copies, or effective compressed copies stored as mathematical information, of their works are contained in the versions of Stable Diffusion. The court has decided that plaintiffs should be allowed to proceed with discovery. The operation of the diffusion models by the defendants will be tested at summary judgment against various direct and induced infringement theories and precedent under the Copyright Act.
The court is inclined to grant the motions to dismiss all DMCA claims. However, it is also inclined to deny Midjourney’s motion to dismiss the false endorsement and trade dress claims.
