Dale Nelson Publishes Forbes Article on Sora 2’s Rapid Change in Copyright Policy for IP Owners
Dale Nelson recently authored a Forbes article, “Sora 2 Does A Copyright Somersault Upon Launch,” examining the rapid change in copyright policy of OpenAI’s Sora 2, and what the sudden shift could mean for the AI tool going forward.
Upon Sora 2’s launch, user-generated videos containing copyrighted characters operated under an opt-out model, meaning intellectual property owners had to explicitly request any restrictions on the usage of their IP within the app. Just three days later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman switched the policy to an opt-in model in an effort to give rightholders “more granular control.” In light of this rapid decision, Dale poses a crucial question, “…why now and not at launch?” She continues to highlight OpenAI’s approach as “infringe first, apologize later.”
Dale further raises concerns about the lack of transparency around whether copyrighted material was used to train Sora 2. She elaborates, “A rightsholder who decides not to opt-in merely bars the output of their intellectual property, yet they have no control over how their intellectual property will influence the creation of future content.” At a time when legal and ethical concerns over AI technology are heightened, with Midjourney and Anthropic recently facing their own legal challenges, Dale cautions that while the policy shift may appear to be a win for rightsholders, significant uncertainty remains.