AI generated images of people and releases.

[Mrrrky]

Hi everyone, I have been wondering what is the official praxis that Alamy suggest for us contributors when uploading AI generated images with depiction of people on them? 
What should we choose in the ''Do you have model releases for all the people in the image'' section? We all know those people cannot sign the release, since they are fictional.

[Aul Zitzke]

57 minutes ago, Mrrrky said:

Hi everyone, I have been wondering what is the official praxis that Alamy suggest for us contributors when uploading AI generated images with depiction of people on them? 
What should we choose in the ''Do you have model releases for all the people in the image'' section? We all know those people cannot sign the release, since they are fictional.

 

Hi Mrrrky,

 

I can only give you a general answer. The model release section is an optional information, it is not mandatory. So if you don´t have a model release, then ignore it (normally I would prefer editorial use, but in this case it is not possible). I also sell AI generated images, but I avoid uploading images with recognizable people, fictional or not. Anyway, on Adobe Stock model releases are required, even for AI generated images. Otherwise you get the images rejected. 

 

Best regards 🙂

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

3 hours ago, Mrrrky said:

...uploading AI generated images with depiction of people...''Do you have model releases for all the people in the image''

AFAIK, US Copyright Office does NOT recognize AI images as intellectual property & does NOT permit them to be copyrighted.

 😲      😲      😲      😲      😲

Therefore AI images are not owned by contributor offering them & can be legally copied without permission...???

🤓: Dey ver made by machine, not by humanz, you zee, its dat simple...

👩‍🎓: Professor, what about in UK?
🤓: I don't know deez tings, vat you tink, I am shmarty pants??!!

 ⛔      ⛔      ⛔      ⛔ 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg

[spiegel]

11 hours ago, Mrrrky said:

''Do you have model releases for all the people in the image''

 

I don't use anyone's name in my prompts, nor do I use image prompts. The AI therefore generates a set of pixels that in their entirety resemble the photo of a human being. But a real model, which would need the protection of a MR, is not used.
The answer to the question is therefore an unequivocal "no". Where there is no model, there can be no model release.
The interjection by @Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg concerns a different topic and misses the point of the question.
 

But I use property releases with screenshots documenting the process of generation. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by spiegel
addition

[Aul Zitzke]

These are the rules on Adobe Stock:

 

"Any content created with generative AI tools that depicts, is based on, or is intended to portray an identifiable person requires a model release. For example, if you upload a photo of a real person as a prompt, name a specific individual in the prompt, or include prompt keywords intended to instruct the generative AI tool to draw a real person.

If the generative AI content was not based on a real person, but it visually appears to resemble a person, then you must submit a property release confirming that you have all property rights in the content. "

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/generative-ai-content.html

 

So, if you have an image that depicts no real person, then you need a property release (no model release!) to explain that the image has been made with generative AI.

 

 

[spiegel]

18 minutes ago, Aul Zitzke said:

So, if you have an image that depicts no real person, then you need a property release (no model release!) to explain that the image has been made with generative AI.

 

Yes, and I too adhere to this guidelines for the sake of prudence.
Basically (my personal opinion as a non-lawyer), however, I am of the opinion that the images of people created out of thin air do not need any personal protection. Because the "photographed" people simply do not exist.
But we all know that the legal situation with AIs is not really clear yet. Therefore, I think a little caution and, above all, documentation that can also be traced in the future is sensible.
 

Edited April 7, 2023 by spiegel
misspell

[Harry Harrison]

Personally I would suggest asking Alamy directly, though not over Easter, because if they haven't got a policy on it yet then they're going to need one pretty soon.

[spiegel]

19 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Personally I would suggest asking Alamy directly, though not over Easter, because if they haven't got a policy on it yet then they're going to need one pretty soon.

Yes, that is certainly helpful. 
Besides that, it is also useful to simply check in which form and to what extent Alamy allows AI images of people and puts them in the distribution:

 

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/generative-ai.html?_gl=1*1omclay*_ga*MTEyMTg1Mjk4My4xNjc3NzM4NTI3*_ga_M5V9H9N7G8*MTY4MDg1MjUyMC4xNDUuMS4xNjgwODUzMjM0LjAuMC4w&comp=1&hc=1&mode=0&sortBy=relevant

[Harry Harrison]

10 minutes ago, spiegel said:

Besides that, it is also useful to simply check in which form and to what extent Alamy allows AI images of people and puts them in the distribution:

This is not my field and I can confidently say that it never will be but it's quite interesting to do a search for 'generative AI' and then use the filter for number of people, 2 say. At the moment the results are mainly illustrative but some stand out as being what I would call photo-realistic but for the ones that I noticed the models have releases and I think that AI has been used to place them in different places around the world, presumably using pictures by the same contributor as backdrops. I'm only guessing though. They all say 'Digitally altered: unknown' of course which is a tad misleading but inevitable as they can't be marked up as 'Digitally altered' in AIM. If you don't enter how many people are in the picture in Optional then they won't appear in this filter, and neither will they appear in Vital so it's back to the main question of how Alamy want to to deal with 'AI people' on Alamy.

[Inchiquin]

2 hours ago, Aul Zitzke said:

 

So, if you have an image that depicts no real person, then you need a property release (no model release!) to explain that the image has been made with generative AI.

 

 

BUT... what happens when someone sees an AI image that closely resembles them, and decides to sue the creator on the basis that people might reasonably believe the image was based on them?

 

Alan

Edited April 7, 2023 by Inchiquin

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

10 hours ago, spiegel said:

The interjection...concerns a different topic and misses the point of the question.

OH ya got me good ouch real good...

but doesn't

"AI images are not owned by contributor offering them & can be legally copied without permission

US Copyright Office does NOT recognize AI images as intellectual property & does NOT permit them to be copyrighted."

strongly suggest that MRs for 100% AI images are MOOT ?!?!

[Aul Zitzke]

55 minutes ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

OH ya got me good ouch real good...

but doesn't

"AI images are not owned by contributor offering them & can be legally copied without permission

US Copyright Office does NOT recognize AI images as intellectual property & does NOT permit them to be copyrighted."

strongly suggest that MRs for 100% AI images are MOOT ?!?!

 

This only refers to copyright registration, which only applies in the US, but of course they're separate matters- as we all know copyright susbists irrespective of registration. Alamy is a British agency so British copyright law would apply.

IMO whether copyright even subsists in an AI image is a very different question in the US and Europe as the US doesn't have the concept of "intellectual creation" which derives from EU law and is incorporated in the CDPA in the concept of originality.

Alamy is only interested in the contract. It's not its job to decide what is protected by copyright and what isn't.

 

Quote from another forum thread by the user "spacecadet"

[shardanu]

Is Alamy still accepting AI generated images?

[spacecadet]

On 18/04/2023 at 11:38, shardanu said:

Is Alamy still accepting AI generated images?

No. It never was acceptable as they were in breach of contract. It's being removed.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by spacecadet