Pryor Cashman Partner Josh Weigensberg, a member of the Litigation and Media + Entertainment Groups, was quoted in a TechCrunch article regarding the use of “opt-out” systems for artificial intelligence (AI) model training. 

The TechCrunch article, “OpenAI failed to deliver the opt-out tool it promised by 2025,” explains that opt-out systems require creators and copyright owners to object to their works being included in the data used to train AI models. These models power generative AI technology that can produce text, pictures, video, and even interactive 3D worlds on command.

The article included Josh’s comments about concerns surrounding opt-out approaches, which include the prevalence of copyrighted works on third-party websites and services in today’s online ecosystem:

[Opt-out systems] also might not address the all-to-common scenario of third-party platforms hosting copies of creators’ content, added Joshua Weigensberg, an IP and media lawyer for Pryor Cashman.

“Creators and copyright owners do not control, and often do not even know, where their works appear on the internet,” Weigensberg said. “Even if a creator tells every single AI platform that they are opting out of training, those companies may well still go ahead and train on copies of their works available on third-party websites and services.”

Read the full article using the link below.