Claims Dismissed In AI Copyright Infringement Suit

Almost a year ago, Kelly McKernan, a Nashville-based artist, started noticing online images very similar to hers, which are distinctive enough to have earned her a following. She soon learned that three companies, Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt were feeding her art into AI systems used to “train” image-generators.

McKernan, along with fellow artists Karla Ortiz and Sarah Andersen became plaintiffs in a proposed class action claiming the companies infringed their copyrighted work. The case is being heard in San Francisco, before U.S. District Judge William Orrick.

On October 30, Reuters reported that Orrick dismissed some claims, including copyright infringement claims by McKernan and Karla Ortiz because they did not register their images with the Copyright Office. Sarah Andersen can continue pursuing her claim, asserting that Stability’s use of her work to train Stable Diffusion infringes her copyrights.

There are similar allegations central to other lawsuits in progress against generative AI companies.

Orrick also dismissed all allegations against Midjourney and DeviantArt. However, he allowed the artists to file an amended complaint against those companies, whose systems use Stability’s Stable Diffusion text-to-image technology.

Orrick said that determining whether copyright violations occurred during the process of training Stable Diffusion, or when it is run, cannot be resolved at this stage. The plaintiffs’ attorneys say that their “core claim” survived, and they can address the court’s concerns about other claims in an amended complaint to be filed next month.

“We’re David against Goliath here,” McKernan said in an earlier AP article. “Someone’s profiting from my work. I had rent due yesterday, and I’m $200 short. It just doesn’t feel right.”