{"id":106980,"date":"2026-01-28T10:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=106980"},"modified":"2026-01-28T10:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:36:11","slug":"hundreds-of-us-creators-back-stealing-isnt-innovation-campaign-against-ai-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/hundreds-of-us-creators-back-stealing-isnt-innovation-campaign-against-ai-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of US creators back \u201cStealing Isn\u2019t Innovation\u201d campaign against AI firms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The campaign calls on the entire AI sector to follow others and secure licenses to train their AI models.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is the \u201cStealing Isn\u2019t Innovation\u201d campaign?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The debate around AI copyright just got louder thanks to a new initiative titled \u201cStreaming Isn\u2019t Innovation\u201d<\/a>. Launched last Thursday by the Human Artist Campaign, the initiative is backed by the Writers Guild of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, alongside around 800 creatives spanning artists, actors, and authors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their concern? Despite some AI companies now having licensing agreements with creators and copyright owners, many AI firms still continue to use copyrighted work “without authorization or regard for copyright law\u201d to train their AI models. All while arguing the practice falls under \u201cfair use\u201d in US copyright law.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign\u2019s message is clear though:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArtists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation. It\u2019s not progress. It\u2019s theft – plain and simple.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Support for the campaign spans from well-known actors and musicians to authors, and includes the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Cyndi Lauper, Cate Blanchett, MGMT, and REM. One notable supporter is Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who described AI as the \u201cworld\u2019s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine\u201d last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the campaign is actually calling for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of it, the campaign is a reminder. Creatives still want AI tech firms to seek their permission before using their material, and they want compensation for doing so. As some AI companies now have licensing agreements in place, the campaign is now arguing all AI companies to do the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign points out that licenses are the \u201cresponsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use.\u201d By obtaining them, everyone can benefit: \u201cit is possible to have it all – we can have advanced rapidly developing AI and ensure creators\u2019 rights are respected\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger picture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This conversation is clearly relevant for the music industry, where we\u2019ve seen a shift in recent times. At first, AI music generators were embroiled in legal battles<\/a>, but we\u2019ve now started seeing them sign licensing agreements with record labels. Take Udio who has signed licensing deals with Universal, Warner<\/a>, and Merlin<\/a>. Meanwhile, Suno has also signed a deal<\/a> with Warner that allows artists to opt-in to their work being used and compensating them for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warner and Suno partner in a landmark deal for AI music that puts artists in control<\/a><\/blockquote>