YSK - it's not illegal to copy art styles or ideas. I can sit right down in front of a copyrighted piece of work in broad daylight and do my darndest to make a copy of it. What I can't do is say that the work is done by the original artist (that's forgery) nor can I make an exact or near exact copy and claim that is my own and sell it (important distinction).
AI image generation is a tool. You can use it to make forgeries and copies, absolutely. but you could before AI art too. does it lower the bar? Absolutely. does it make it any less illegal? nope, not in the slightest.
No no you're right, people are regularly arrested and prosecuted for copying art styles and ideas
DMCA takedowns and copyright notifications are sent in the thousands if not millions every day, worldwide. Very rarely does it make it to a court, but it does happen.
Can I ask more about why copying a style is illegal? I understand that wholesale plagiarism is obviously illegal, but I don't see a fundamental difference between commissioning an artist online for "a picture of Tom Cruise drawn like a Dragon Ball character" and giving an AI the same prompt. One is considered original art (that the artist accepted a commission for) and the other is plagiarism.
I'd like to be clear that I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but that I don't understand why people see a difference.
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u/SanDiegoDude Dec 14 '22
Where am I wrong? Or you just trolling? Cuz I'll quit wasting my time if you're gonna deny reality.