Training AI models on copyrighted works is "squarely what transformative use is," EFF’s Tori Noble told Reason - these are "general purpose tools" and "exactly the kind of creation that copyright is designed to foster.” https://reason.com/2026/09/04/doj-says-barring-ai-training-on-copyrighted-material-could-severely-hamper-tech-progress/
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@eff Surely If it's just a tool, it's still possible to infringe copyright with that tool.
It seems to me, what matters is the relationship sources and the result.
Whether something is transformative is assessed case by case, creation by creation. (Irrespective of tools used).
And in the case of LLMs, where 'creators' do not select/understand their sources, whether it's copyright infringement or not is just a spin of the roulette wheel. The problem is now everyone's got infinite spins
@eff This is a fucking joke, right? Please, tell us all that this was just a joke.
I need to cut back on a some of the donations that I give to projects and this post just made it really easy to decide on at least one.
@eff Well, I guess "Bye, EFF!"
@eff And to think I used to have a recurring donation for the EFF. I'll have to find a way to counteract the help I gave you.
@eff Have you gone insane at the EFF?
As this basically is invalidating all your credibility!
@eff Yeah, that's not a bad legal decision. The threshold for copyright violation is deliberately set high, meaning that if you do something innovative with someone else's copyrighted material, you're *meant* to free to do that. That's by design.
@eff I am horrified. Seriously, EFF?
WTF? #AItheft #copyright #AI_slop
@eff who donated and how much for your to take that position?
This is a horrible take and I've just lost insurmountable amounts of respect for your organization
Hey, uh...
So if I set up a pantograph and use it to copy the contents of an entire book by tracing over the pages, and the pantograph is poorly-designed so it results in lots of errors, but the book is slightly larger and therefore distinguishable from the original by size alone, is that a transformative work? Especially if I sell it as an alternative to the original?
I'm just wondering where the limits apply.
@eff If we have to pay, they have to pay. No special cases.
That is the way copyright works.
@eff Wow, the irony is palpable in this one. This is the most "technically correct but in unintended way" take we've seen in a month.
Yes, this is *precisely* the kind of "creation" copyright is *designed to foster*. Corporation-centered, worker-oppressing framework to extract profit from others' labor and handwave away any complaints through legalese bullshit and arguing for fake moral superiority, when the reality is that multi-billion companies use copyright as a tool for oppression. genAI is just another iteration of "laws for thee but not for me", alongside many other oppressive things.
Shame on you.
@eff Okay so you're advocating piracy. I don't feel conflicted about it now. Can't have it both ways.
