Reproducing copyrighted works to assemble a training set: Which intellectual-property consideration most
Copying copyrighted works into a training set can infringe the reproduction right unless a license or exception applies.
The question
A startup wants to train a generative image model on millions of illustrations scraped from artist portfolios without licenses. Counsel flags that many of the works carry active copyrights. Which intellectual-property consideration most directly constrains using this dataset for training?
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- Trademark law bars the startup from training on the illustrations because the artists' names operate as protected brand marks.Plausible but wrong: trademark protects source identifiers in commerce, not the copying of artworks for training.
- Patent law prevents the startup from using the illustrations because model architectures are themselves patentable inventions.Plausible but wrong: patents may cover inventions, but they do not govern whether copyrighted images may be copied for training.
- Reproducing copyrighted works to assemble a training set can infringe the rights holders' exclusive reproduction rights. ✓Correct: copying protected works into a training corpus implicates the exclusive right of reproduction unless licensed or excepted.
- Trade-secret law nullifies the copyrights the moment the illustrations were published openly on public portfolio websites.Wrong: publication does not void copyright, and trade-secret law is unrelated to publicly displayed artworks.
The trap
Assuming that because works are publicly viewable online they are free to copy for training. How to remember it
Copying copyrighted works into a training set can infringe the reproduction right unless a license or exception applies.
How many of these would you get right?
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Every answer, right and wrong, comes with its own explanation.
