AI video tool SORA raises big legal questions - expert

Dr Dominic Lees, Associate Professor in Filmmaking and expert in Generative AI, said:  "SORA brings up important questions about where this technology gets all its training data from. Have the artists, photographers, performers and filmmakers whose work was used to train SORA actually given permission for their creative work to be used that way?  When artists create work that is digitally recorded, they make datasets that some AI developers are using for free, without consent or compensation.

"This could cause real problems down the line. SORA can mix and match elements from many different sources to come up with new video scenes. But if those sources never agreed for their work to be used this way, any new videos created by SORA could get tangled up in legal issues around copyright. There could end up being lots of opportunistic copyright claims.

"The new landscape of prompt-based AI image creation is so fraught that Getty Images released 'Generative AI by iStock', in which the user is given legal insurance against prosecution by artists. 

"At the same time, SORA makes advanced video technology available to everyone. With just some text, vivid worlds can be created that used to need huge budgets and film crews. This expands creativity. But are SORA's videos accurate, ethical or biased? We need to keep examining that.

"SORA represents the latest advancements in AI for culture. But it highlights problems in current laws and policies which haven't kept up with technology. Lawmakers face a tough balancing act - allowing innovation while also protecting rights, access and ethics. How this gets handled will shape the way future generations use AI to tell their own stories."

Dr Dominic Lees is currently advising MPs in an inquiry into the UK film industry.