What's abuzz in the photography world this month?
1. PetaPixel
A U.S. judge has allowed a group of 10 artists to continue their copyright lawsuit against AI image generator firms Stability AI, Midjourney, DeviantArt, and others. The artists claim their work was used without permission to train AI models. While some claims were dismissed, the core copyright issue will proceed, enabling the artists to seek information on how their work was used. The lawsuit focuses on the LAION dataset, which allegedly contains billions of images scraped from the web.
2. Digital Camera World
With the rise of AI, artists increasingly face having their work stolen and manipulated without consent for AI training, a situation complicated by insufficient regulations. Social media platforms often scrape content for AI use, leaving photographers vulnerable. To combat this, the new app Overlai, also available as an Adobe plug-in, helps protect visual content by issuing C2PA and IPTC assertions and creator credentials.
3. Dazed Magazine
Carrie Mae Weems, known for her "Kitchen Table Series," has unveiled a new billboard titled "Leading with compassion, not complaint," featuring black-and-white images of Kamala Harris. This artwork is part of the Artists For Democracy campaign, co-chaired by Weems, which aims to encourage voter turnout and redefine concepts like freedom and patriotism. The campaign will feature billboards in key swing states and involve artists like Shepard Fairey and Victoria Cassinova.
4. Artnet
In 1985, Andy Warhol created a digital portrait of Blondie’s Debbie Harry using a Commodore Amiga 1000 at its launch event. Believed lost, the artwork has resurfaced in the possession of Jeff Bruette, a former Commodore digital technician who assisted Warhol. Bruette is now selling the original Amiga disk containing the portrait and other Warhol-created digital files and related memorabilia for $26 million.
5. DIYPhotography
Judges have reviewed thousands of stunning images to select this year’s Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 Photo Awards finalists. The chosen photos, from coastal, drone, and underwater photographers, highlight the beauty and the threats facing the ocean. Among the finalists are eels gliding over rocks at low tide, a freediver descending into a blue hole, and an octopus taking refuge in a plastic bag. The overall winner and category winners will be announced in mid-September.
Would you also like to learn more about Photography Copyright? We invite you to check out the Fair Licensing Copyright Guide.
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That's all for now. See you next time!