From Sam Altman Standing With Pokemon Characters To McDonald's Mascot Fleeing: OpenAI Appears To Be Abandoning Its Sora Copyright Policy

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced changes to the company's Sora video-generation app, giving rights holders more control over how their copyrighted characters are used after widespread legal and public backlash.

Sora Flooded With AI-Generated Disney, Pokémon And SpongeBob Videos

Since its launch, Sora 2, which allows users to generate AI videos from text prompts, has been flooded with clips featuring popular characters such as Pikachu, SpongeBob, and Ronald McDonald, reported Business Insider.

Legal experts warned that such videos could trigger a wave of copyright lawsuits. 

Stanford Law professor Mark Lemley said, "OpenAI is opening itself up to quite a lot of copyright lawsuits by doing this."

OpenAI Moves From Controversial Opt-Out Policy To Granular Rights Holder Controls

Initially, OpenAI required studios and talent agencies to opt out if they didn't want their IP appearing on Sora, a policy widely criticized for sidestepping copyright law.

Altman wrote in a blog post that OpenAI is now offering "more granular control over generation of characters, similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls."

He added that the company also plans to "share some of this revenue with rights holders who want their characters generated by users."

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Microsoft Brings OpenAI Sora Video AI To Bing Amid Artist Backlash

In June, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)  integrated OpenAI's Sora model into its Bing app, launching Bing Video Creator to allow users to generate AI videos from text prompts for free.

This marked the first time Sora became widely accessible, after previously being limited to select paying customers. Users could create up to 10 video clips at no cost, with additional videos requiring Microsoft Rewards points.

Initially, the tool supported only short vertical videos, with longer formats coming later.

Last year, OpenAI's unreleased Sora model was leaked by beta testers protesting the company's treatment of artists.

The testers shared a working interface on Hugging Face and accused OpenAI of exploiting their work for "unpaid R&D" and "art washing."

In an open letter, they urged OpenAI to be "more open, more artist-friendly, and support the arts beyond PR stunts."

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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