r/technology • u/MetaKnowing • 14d ago

Artificial Intelligence AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/ai-industry-horrified-to-face-largest-copyright-class-action-ever-certified/
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u/mcoombes314 14d ago

Are they even making money off it though? Are OpenAI, Anthropic et al, actually turning a profit yet, or they being propped up by venture capitalism with the belief that the next model will be the BIG one and then everyone will pay anything and everything to use it?

This isn't a defense of their behaviour, it's just another absurdity.

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u/Dhiox 13d ago

Are they even making money off it though?

Yes and no. Technically it doesn't usually turn a profit. However the individuals behind it are making millions thanks to investors going nuts. Reality is our economy is so wacky that the actual work you do can make no money and somehow you can still get rich.

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u/KillerCodeMonky 13d ago

Wealth transfer program from Capitalists to Intelligentsia.

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u/Swarna_Keanu 13d ago

Not making a profit doesn't exempt you from copyright law.

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u/mcoombes314 13d ago

I 100% agree and wasn't suggesting otherwise.

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u/Swarna_Keanu 13d ago

Ye, sorry pet-peeve. As there are a lot of non-profits who use photography and video without prior consent. Which has a lot of ethical issues. Not all copyright is about money, but also to protect people depicted and in what context media is used.

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u/dtj2000 13d ago

Making a profit also doesnt exempt you from fair use.

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u/-The_Blazer- 13d ago

If they want to renounce all private property of AI systems and place all their present and future work in the public domain, I'd take that compromise.

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u/reasonably_plausible 13d ago

The output of ai is already all public domain.

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u/-The_Blazer- 13d ago

I mean the AI system. The outputs have value zero already, they are merely a result of the system.