AI model developers now required to disclose details under new EU regulations
The European Union has adopted a new AI Act, set to be enforced from August 2023, that aims to strengthen copyright protection for developers of AI models and balance the promotion of AI innovation within the EU.
From August 2, 2023, developers of AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini will be required to adhere to these new rules. Models released before August 2, 2025, will be controlled from August 2027, while those released after this date will be controlled from August 2026.
Under the new regulations, developers must report the sources of their training data and detail measures taken to protect intellectual property. Automatically scraping websites for training data is now a requirement that developers must report.
The AI Act mandates providers to adopt copyright compliance policies, with guidance offered by the related EU General-Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice. This includes drawing up, updating, and enforcing a copyright compliance policy, ensuring training data are lawfully accessible, and implementing technical and organizational measures to prevent AI from outputting protected works in ways that infringe copyright.
The new rules apply to general-purpose AI systems capable of writing text, analyzing language, or programming. Developers must also disclose how their systems work and the data used to train them.
Rights holders will have a contact point within companies under the new guidelines. Several national and international alliances of authors, artists, and publishers have criticized the legislation, while Google has expressed concerns. However, the Initiative for Copyright has criticized the legislation for insufficient intellectual property protection.
The new EU rules also allow private individuals to sue providers based on the AI Act, and non-compliance may result in fines of up to 15 million euros or 3% of the company's global annual turnover.
By embedding compliance mechanisms and respecting technical access restrictions, the EU AI Act aims to protect creators’ rights while promoting AI innovation within the EU. This reflects the core concerns of stakeholders about AI’s interaction with copyright-protected content.
References: 1. EU AI Act 2. GPAI Code of Practice 3. OpenAI Commitment to the GPAI Code of Practice 4. Google's Commitment to the GPAI Code of Practice
In accordance with the EU AI Act, developers of AI models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, are obligated to follow new guidelines from August 2, 2023, which involve reporting data sources and intellectual property protection measures. Additionally, the AI Act requires providers to adopt copyright compliance policies, as mandated by the related EU General-Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice, and may face fines of up to 15 million euros or 3% of their global annual turnover if non-compliant.
