German Photographer Faces Consequences After Requesting Removal of His Photos from AI Training Dataset
In Brief
Robert Kneschke, a German stock image photographer, encountered penalties after asking for his photographs to be excluded from the LAION-5B public training dataset.
In February 2023, Robert Kneschke, a stock photographer from Germany, found out that his images were being leveraged to train AI image generators, thanks to a platform called Have I Been Trained. Inspired by another photographer’s online plea to have their images removed from the LAION dataset, Kneschke reached out concerning his own portfolio. To his surprise, he received a communication from the organization stating it was compliant with contacted and declared that removing his images was not feasible. This communication also insinuated potential damage claims against Kneschke for making what they deemed an unreasonable request. By the end of March, Kneschke opted to send a cease-and-desist letter urging the LAION team to eliminate his images from the training dataset and disclose how extensively his work had been utilized, the duration of usage, and the source of the images.

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The legality surrounding the usage of copyrighted materials for AI training remains a contentious topic. A precedent-setting case has yet to emerge that could clarify the standing of both parties involved.
in its involvement with LAION, which features over 12 million images from the Getty Images library. Karla Ortiz, a creative and board member of the advocacy group known as the Concept Art Association, is spearheading a fundraising drive aimed at hiring a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. She and her team aspire to instigate reforms in U.S. copyright, data privacy, and labor legislation.
Artists ideally should have the ability to withdraw their creations from training datasets, as per Stability AI, which announced in December that it would respect all requests to be excluded.
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- Getty is suing Stability AI Projected Costs for AI Model Training Could Skyrocket from $100 Million to $500 Million by 2030 artists The Creators of Stable Diffusion endorse the artists' protests. protect artists’ intellectual property.
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