The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called on Hollywood studios to “come off the sidelines” and prevent tech companies from allegedly using its members’ works to train AI platforms.
The guild urged studios to take “immediate legal action” against any tech firms that it says have used writers’ work to train their AI systems.
The WGA sent a letter to the chief executives of Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Sony, Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios outlining its concerns. The letter was published in full by key Hollywood trades.
“It’s time for the studios to come off the sidelines,” the letter stated. “After this industry has spent decades fighting piracy, it cannot stand idly by while tech companies steal full libraries of content for their own financial gain.”
The letter cited a recent article in The Atlantic titled There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing is Powering AI which it said confirms that “tech companies have looted the studios’ intellectual property – a vast reserve of works created by generations of union labour – to train their artificial intelligence systems.”
The letter said: “The studios, as copyright holders of works written by WGA members, have done nothing to stop this theft. They have allowed tech companies to plunder entire libraries without permission or compensation. The studios’ inaction has harmed WGA members.”
It added: “The studios should take immediate legal action against any company that has used our members’ works to train AI systems.”
You are not signed in
Only registered users can comment on this article.
BBC to cut 2,000 jobs: "Put simply, the gap between our costs and our income is growing"
In an internal, all-staff call held today, Rhodri Talfan Davies, Interim Director General for the BBC, revealed that the organisation is planning to cut between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs.
AJA to acquire video encoding company Comprimato
AJA Video Systems has agreed to acquire Comprimato, a live video encoding and processing software provider for virtualised and cloud productions and broadcasts.
Spain’s LaLiga teams with Fastly to target streaming piracy
LaLiga is collaborating with San Francisco-based edge cloud platform provider Fastly to develop technical solutions to address illegal streaming of live sports, with a special focus on the Spanish league’s football matches.
Women's elite sports revenues to reach $3bn in 2026
Global revenues in women’s elite sports will reach at least $3bn (£2.2bn) for the first time in 2026, according to new research by consultancy Deloitte.
SVOD market entering a ‘more disciplined phase’ – report
Global SVOD subscriptions have reached 2.2 billion worldwide and are on track to achieve 2.6 billion by 2030, according to Futuresource Consulting.
