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Microsoft has tweaked its AI image generation tool after concerns were raised about a viral social media trend in which users created realistic Disney movie posters of their dogs, highlighting wider copyright issues in the industry.
The Disney logo was visible in illustrations designed by Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator, which were then posted on TikTok and Instagram. The images showed people’s pets modeled after posters created by Disney studio Pixar, prompting influencers to encourage others to nudge the AI tool to create their own versions.
After concerns were raised, the term “Disney” was blocked from being entered into the image builder, and users were shown a screen saying the claim – the search terms used to direct the AI - went against its policies. One person familiar with Disney’s approach noted that the media giant had flagged concerns about copyright or intellectual property infringement.
The tool has since been modified to allow the Disney term, but the text and logo in the AI-generated images still resemble those in the original images, as seen in the above poster for the film. brave. It contains a mixed up but still similar version of the original logo, but, for example, with misspellings or blurry font, like the image above showing a dog.
“Reproducing the Disney logo is clear trademark infringement. I imagine that’s why the AI mixed up the logo,” said Andrew White, a partner at intellectual property law firm Mathys & Squire.
He added that there was an “unresolved issue” about whether the AI models were trained on Disney content and also whether they were reproducing copyrighted material.
“In this case, it would probably be more fun than trying to pass off images for the movie or their animation, but that would be a huge problem,” White added. “From a PR perspective, there’s a fine line for Disney to seem to resort to something “For fun that ultimately raises its profile versus something that’s actually anti-competitive.”
In September, Microsoft pledged to take legal responsibility for any business customers using its Word, PowerPoint and programming tools who face complaints of copyright infringement due to material produced by its artificial intelligence products. Other major tech companies using generative AI, including Adobe and OpenAI, have offered similar protections.
Influencers’ social media accounts were instructing followers to enter terms like “Disney Pixar-inspired movie poster,” which would generate images that used the media giant’s logo, among other design characteristics.
Nicola Bennett, who runs an Instagram account for her Italian company Greyhound Pandora Egy, She said she took photos after seeing others doing so on the social media platform.
“I wrote a cute Disney-style collage – the pictures are so cute and similar, I can’t believe they make it so quickly,” she said.
Bennett said she thinks this is “a positive thing for the Disney brand, but maybe they should have their own generator.” She also realized that “now you can do it for free.” . . He can take that from the people who make it with their own hands.”
Microsoft did not comment on the trade discussions but said: “There is a current level of variability that may result in different results from time to time as we continue to improve our safety systems. . . . Additionally, artists, celebrities, and organizations can request to limit the creation of images associated with their names and brands.”
Disney declined to comment.
The incident comes as artists, singers, media companies and publishers have claimed that copyrighted material has been used to develop artificial intelligence products without their consent or payment.
There are several ongoing lawsuits amid questions about the data the underlying models were trained on. Stock image provider Getty Images has filed a lawsuit against Stability AI, alleging that the company used its images to train its model.
Additional reporting by Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles