SEGAP (CGT's Barcelona Union of Shows, Graphic Arts, Audiovisuals and Paper), together with ARTEesÉTICA, has presented a manifesto to demand the regulation of image-generating AIs in Spanish-speaking countries and has started collecting signatures.
As the union recalls, the founder of Midjourney, David Holz, assured Forbes that he had no intention of seeking the consent of artists because as they have already used so many images it is not possible to know where they all come from. He then added that big companies must buy a licence from him to use "his" images.
You can dress this up in any guise you like, but to me it is simple parasitism with obvious commercial intent based on blatant trampling of authors' rights and dressing it all up as "technological advancement" with cynicism.
This is not the first collective initiative demanding regulation, nor will it be the last. Earlier this year, a group of authors sued Stable Diffusion and other platforms for violating artists' rights.
I reproduce the full text of the manifesto/petition.
Manifesto
We are artists and creative workers from different countries in Latin America and Spain and we are creating this petition to ask our parliamentary representatives for a regulation of Artificial Intelligences that protects creative and labour rights in the face of the impact of these technologies.
Reports from experts (and even stakeholders), recognise that these technologies will affect 80% of skilled jobs, which could result in 30% unemployment worldwide. But this is not just an employment issue: generative AI also violates the moral and material rights of everyone in the world.
Scientific, literary and artistic production is at risk, as everything published on the internet is being used as a database for generative AI. What is remixed by machines cannot impose itself on the original value of what is created by people.
Article 27.2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author"
As artists and creative workers, we are the first to be affected by the imitation of our work and mass dismissals. That is why we alert the community and enforce EVERYONE'S RIGHTS through governmental institutions. Arte es Ética seeks to unite Spanish-speaking authors and creatives to produce informative analytical content and promote collective actions of awareness and mediation with political representatives in Latin America and Spain.
Let's unite to protect our rights and our work in the face of this invasive technology. Sign the petition and support our regulatory proposals to protect our creative and labour rights - don't let generative AI destroy our lives and our culture!
what is Art is Ethics?
It is a conglomerate of independent artists (illustrators, photographers, animators, painters, models, 3D modellers, voice-over artists and dubbing actors) working together with associations and unions in Latin America and Spain, such as the Mexican Association of Illustrators (AMDI), the Union of Entertainment, Graphic, Audiovisual and Paper Arts of Barcelona(SEGAP CGT), the Asociación de Autoras y Autores Profesionales del Cómic de España(APCOMIC), the Casa de la Ilustración en Bogotá(CasaTinta), the Sindicato de Actores de Voz y Voice Talents de Madrid(AVTA) and the Organización de Voces Unidas de Hispanoamerica(OVU), the Asociación de Traducción y Adaptación Audiovisual de España(ATRAE), Associació de Professionals de la Il-lustració Valenciana (APIV).
Arte es Ética also forms an alliance with the Concept Art Association(CAA) and the European Guild for AI Regulation(EGAIR).
