Behind the Scenes at Stuart Ng Books: Protecting Artists from AI Technologies -- Year 2 -- Concept Art Association

Concept Art Association (CAA) https://www.conceptartassociation.com/about

continues to be on the front lines of this vital fight. Raising awareness. Pushing for accountability. Protecting creative rights for all of us. The artists are the canaries in the coal mine. We need to heed the warnings. Last year, this fundraising effort helped get artists to the US Senate to testify. Raising awareness at national and local levels is vital... and expensive.

Here are some excerpts from the CAA year 2 Go Fund Me campaign.

"We cannot believe how quickly this year has gone and we are getting close to our one-year anniversary of launching this GoFundMe. The support you have all shown to get us here and have continued to show us is incredible. With that said let's get going on year two!

We have learned a lot in the last 9 months and have a good idea of where your money is best spent, and where we perhaps need a little more or a little less. When we did our budget for year one we wanted to be very transparent and very thoughtful with our spending and we intend to continue this transparency and thoughtfulness for year two. But before we share with you our year two budget we thought this would be a good opportunity to share with you the highlights of what we have been able to achieve together as a result of this gofundme campaign:

1. In March we hosted a one-day virtual event bringing together creators of all types from around the world to discuss generative AI and what it means for their industries and how we could find ways of uniting and working together.

2. Concept Art Association (CAA) jumped into the Washington, DC landscape immediately by joining forces with fellow intellectual property organizations. CAA became a member of the Copyright Alliance (https://copyrightalliance.org/) as well as the Digital Creators Coalition (https://www.digitalcreatorscoalition.org/). In addition, due to relationships, CAA was included early in the formation of the Human Artistry Campaign (https://www.humanartistrycampaign.com/). As such, CAA’s lobbyist was able to suggest the inclusion of “creators” into the seven principles of the Human Artistry Campaign and thus, then become an early member. CAA is now the first organization to be co-hosting an event with HAC of their 140-plus members on the Hill next month.

3. CAA’s lobbyist was asked to join other creator groups such as the Authors Guild, theSongwriters Guild, Graphic Artist Guild, Society of Composers and Lyricists, and ASCRL to participate on behalf of Concept Art Association in AI meetings with the following Congressional Offices: Ted Lieu, Judy Chu, Jim Jordan, Darrell Issa, Michael McCaul, Tony Cardenas and Senators Joni Ernst, Thom Tillis, Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham, Dick Durbin and Martin Heinrich.

4. As part of its AI initiative, the United States Copyright Office hosted a series of four AI Listening Sessions on artificial intelligence. Due to introduction and outreach on behalf of CAA, CAA Board Member, Karla Ortiz as well as CAA member, Matthew Cunningham were invited to participate in the session and made excellent and persuasive presentations. (https://www.copyright.gov/ai/agenda/2023-Visual-Arts-Agenda.pdf).

5. Prior to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s release of the SAFE Innovation Initiative Framework on Artificial Intelligence, CAA’s lobbyist was invited to join a small subset of IP industry advocates in DC to speak with Senator Schumers’s key senior staff leading the initiative. As a result of that meeting, CAA’s lobbyist was able to set up a private call for CAA’s team to meet virtually with Senator Schumer’s team to discuss the specific impact of generative AI on concept artists. At those meetings, creators urged the Majority Leader to protect creators as he and his colleagues look at all the vast aspects and impacts of AI on this country. Majority Leader Schumer and his co-chairman Senator Mike Rounds listened to our and other creators’ pleas and included specific protection for creators in the “Accountability” section of his five central policy objectives. It reads, “support our creators by addressing copyright concerns, protect intellectual property, and address liability.” This was a huge success for creators. We have stayed in close touch with the Schumer team and hope to be included in one of their future meetings. For more on this initiative: https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/majority-leader-schumer-delivers-remarks-to-launch-safe-innovation-framework-for-artificial-intelligence-at-csis

6. As part of CAA’s first Washington, DC “Fly-In”, the Concept Art Association team, led by lobbyist Cindi Merifield, met with the following Congressional offices: Rep. Michael McCaul, House AI Caucus Co-Chairman; Rep. Don Beyer, leading AI expert; Rep. Ted Lieu, House Judiciary Member/House Science Committee Member; Chief IP Counsel, House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Darrell Issa; Senator Martin Heinrich, Senate AI Caucus Co-Chairman; Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and IP Subcommittee Chairman Chris Coons (rescheduled for virtual meeting the following week.)

7. CAA’s lobbyist also set up a meeting for the CAA team with Shira Perlmutter, Register, US Copyright Office (USCO) and her senior staff (including General Counsel, Chief of Staff, Public Liaison and other key senior executives) to make a presentation on the impact of generative AI on concept artists and to discuss potential remedies and ways that the Copyright Office can protect creators.

8. The CAA Washington DC team attended (in person) the first House Judiciary Committee AI hearing entitled: Part I-Interoperability of AI and Copyright Law, and were able to meet and speak with Members of Congress, staff, witnesses, and other copyright industry stakeholders.

9. CAA’s DC Lobbyist hosted an IP Stakeholders meeting at a local restaurant on Capitol Hill for the CAA team to meet and form relationships with other creator and IP groups working toward Congressional action Generative AI on the creative community.

10. On the last evening of the “Fly-In”, CAA hosted an event, “Artists in Action,” in one of the House Congressional office buildings on Capitol Hill. Approximately 80 Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and other Washington IP stakeholders observed artists Karla Ortiz, Matthew Cunningham, and Steven Zapata showcase their work while educating the Members and staff about the challenges concept artists face in the world of generative AI. Rachel, Nicole, and CAA’s Lobbyist were able to speak to numerous Members and staff and followed up after the event to answer questions and to grow the relationships.

11. Politico, the leading newspaper on Capitol Hill and throughout DC, covered CAA’s fly-in with this blurb: — The Concept Art Association, which represents artists working in entertainment, will wrap up a two-day fly-in with a demonstration from artists from the Avengers and Star Trek franchises. The fly-in, which coincides with a House hearing today on AI and copyright law, focused on discussions about preserving artists’ intellectual property online. IP lobbyist Cindi Merifield of R2P Strategies is coordinating the push.

12. CAA’s lobbyist set up an additional meeting with Rep. Ted Lieu’s office in advance of his introduction of legislation establishing an AI Commission. During that call and in follow-up, the CAA team gave the following suggestions to the Lieu office: 1) that AI companies not dominate the Commission in terms of seats; 2) that creators get a seat at the table, and 3) that IP rights must be respected. Rep. Lieu’s office listened to our suggestions and included language that limited the amount of seats of any industry could have on the Commission and required that the creative community be represented on the Commission.

13. As a result of meetings and conversations with IP Subcommittee Chairman Chris Coons, CAA Board Member, Karla Ortiz, was invited to be one of five panelists to testify before the Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee at a hearing entitled, “Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property-Part II: Copyright.” Karla’s testimony and participation on the panel well-received by Members and staff and others in the intellectual property community. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/artificial-intelligence-and-intellectual-property_part-ii-copyright

14. At the request of CAA Board Member, Karla Ortiz, CAA’s lobbyist set up a virtual meeting with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which has jurisdiction over unfair and deceptive trade practices and other competition and fairness issues in the marketplace, to discuss the dangers that generative AI poses to the creative community. CAA met with the Acting Director of Privacy and ID Protections and his team and had a robust and productive conversation.

15. The FTC later hosted a Roundtable including the three sitting FTC Commissioners, entitled the “Creative Economy and Generative AI.” The FTC invited Karla Ortiz, representing herself as a concept artist as well as Steven Zappatta, representing CAA, to participate on a panel with other outstanding creator groups and unions to discuss generative AI. Both Steven and Karla were extremely well-received and the event was deemed by many in Washington as one of the most productive AI discussions to date. More on the event: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/events/2023/10/creative-economy-generative-ai

16. We are working with CVL Economics to put together a report on the Early Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. The Animation Guild, National Cartoonist Foundation, and Human Artistry Campaign are all working with CAA to commission this research report for policymakers.

17. We hosted several virtual educational sessions for the community, including how to register your copyright, what is in your work-for-hire contract, negotiating your work-for-hire contract and a town hall with professional artists on how to mitigate anxiety as you embark upon your art career in these uncertain times.

18. We launched an Instagram account to provide more information and resources to the community, @aimlmediaadvocacy

And these are just the highlights! We should all be so proud of what we have been able to accomplish in D.C. This brings us right up to date with news on our second fly-in to D.C. in November. We are excited to build on all the relationships for our first visit in May as well as virtual meetings we have had since. We will be meeting with more Members of Congress and their staff, the US Copyright Office, the USPTO, the FTC, and others while in Washington.

We are very excited to share that CAA will be co-hosting an event with the Human Artistry Campaign during our visit to Washington D.C. and will showcase musical artists, concept artists, and visual development artists. The reception will draw hundreds of Members of Congress, Congressional staff, Administration officials, The US Copyright Office, The Patent Trademark Office, and the IP Community in DC. This will be a huge opportunity for CAA to reach another level of influence in Washington, one that usually takes many years, even decades to accomplish, if groups ever do reach the level.

And with that being said we really hope to continue this journey into 2024 and hope we have your support for year two...."

"January 31st, 2024

by Concept Art Association, Organizer

It’s been a few months since we last updated you all. We know a lot of you are struggling right now financially and mentally and you might be feeling a little fed up but we really appreciate you continuing to support our efforts, either through additional donations or by sharing the campaign with the community. We love you all.

Unfortunately, we have some bad news. As of tomorrow, February 1st we will no longer have our D.C. lobbyist as we have been unable to continue to fundraise at the level that we did last year. However, we have learned a lot over the past 18 months and feel confident with that while we might not be able to return to D.C. anytime soon, we have also decided to use what funds we have to send a small group to Sacramento, California to speak to legislators up there and see what we can achieve at the state level. There is some movement federally centering around transparency, likeness and voice protections and FTC inquiries, but we’re confident that the state level has the potential to move much faster."

Learn more about the Year 2 campaign here https://www.gofundme.com/f/37grdj9ofc?utm_campaign=p_lico%20share-sheet&utm_medium=

More on Year 1 here and the artists at the Senate (July 2023) here: