Shutterstock is Granting Legal Protection to its Generative AI Users
Shutterstock says customers using its artificial intelligence (AI) image generators will be offered full indemnification, protecting them from potential claims against the use of the images.
Adobe made a similar announcement last month, declaring itself the only “commercially safe generative AI” and also stating it will “protect customers from third party IP claims about Firefly-generated outputs.
Now Shutterstock has followed suit, seeking to reassure business professionals about the rights of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
“We’re at an inflection point in the use of generative AI technology,” says John Lapham, General Counsel at Shutterstock.
The photo stock company says that it indemnified AI images “for a leading cable network’s upcoming television series” and is now extending that protection to all enterprise customers.
“This is a critical advancement, not just for our platform, but for the industry as creatives and business professionals alike can use the AI content generated on our platform for any purpose, whether it’s commercial or personal, without worrying about copyright infringement or ethical issues,” says Jeff Cunning, Vice President of Product at Shutterstock.
The company says that it does not vet every AI image that customers create with its AI image generator tool but wants to reassure customers that the synthetic images they generate have the same protections as other types of content sold on its platform.
Shutterstock is also keen to stress its Contributor Fund which it says has already compensated “hundreds of thousands” of artists for the roles their content has played in training the generative technology.
Adobe’s AI Image Indemnification
Adobe also moved to assuage its customers’ fears by adding a clause to its own generative AI tool, Firefly, that says it will pay customers’ lawsuit losses if they are sued over content generated with Firefly.
“With Firefly, Adobe will also be offering enterprise customers an IP indemnity, which means that Adobe would protect customers from third-party IP claims about Firefly-generated outputs,” it writes in a statement.
According to Tech Crunch, Adobe are comfortable with this position because they trained Firefly on images from Adobe Stock which it believes it had permission to do so, despite some photographers and Adobe contributors being unhappy about this arrangement.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
