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.”
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@nagaram @Big_Blue_Gnu @eff Stop it! This is such a batshit delusional take. There is utterly no way in which fascist corporations and a fascist legal system are going to deliver *to us* the death of copyright! They are not trying to do that! They are seeking a carve-out to take from us while giving nothing back. They are seeking to make things strictly worse for us.
@dalias
@Big_Blue_Gnu @eff
Saw some of your other posts and convos.
I think my understanding of the current state of the copyright debate is out of date. -
@Big_Blue_Gnu @eff Um, no. Our rage is not corporate-backed and is not copyright-maximalism. The idea that AI training is wrong is copyright-minimalist. It doesn't even depend on copyright, just "moral rights" of authors.
@dalias @Big_Blue_Gnu @eff I want the "AI" to die for other reasons more pertinent to ethics.
The part that annoys me with regard to copyright is the hypocrisy. The deliberate exception because it's part of the capital-owning class (or those under their effective orders) that's doing the mass infringement. Try doing so yourself and you'll drown in debt.
Copyright could and should be abolished, my ethical objections would remain untouched. -
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/
@eff Even if creating a generative model is transformative, selling the use of one as a for-profit service to undercut creative artists is preventing the kind of creation that copyright was intended to foster.
But since the generation of statistically similar outputs ensures that the further-derived generated outputs are minimally transformative of the sources, it’s misleading to describe the model itself as transformative.
These services should be required to license their sources.
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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/
@eff I'm surprised you're bragging about your staff attorney's boneheaded comment.
P.S. What are you patting yourself on the back for? Having a your staff attorney quoted in an article? I used to think EFF was cool but shameless self promotion is the opposite of cool. It's lame and gross.
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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/
@eff
It's really not. -
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/
@eff No sane person loves transformative work that makes the internet unusable, boils the ocean, and makes hardware and electricity expensive
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@eff@mastodon.social bad take worstie
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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/
@eff@mastodon.social So, uh, you taking donations from the Slop companies now? Is this why you're dropping toxic takes like this?
They're literally destroying the commons by scraping web servers to death, they're burning the planet with this stampede to build data centers and polluting water, and then their poorly designed models aren't even any good at what they claim to be able to do. They introduce bugs, give bad answers, and record incorrect information in medical transcripts!
But sure, fight for the big guy as he puts his boot on the necks of the rest of us. -
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/
@eff this is a shit position and you should be ashamed.
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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/
@eff EFF thinks they are so galaxy brained in their own heads they espouse a truely stupid take on AI.
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@eff Uhm no? Training my own brain on copyrighted materials would land me in jail if I didn't pay for them... But the biggest companies get a free pass? I don't actually think this is the kind of "fostering" we want going on.
How is the EFF not on our side with this one?
@corigan01 @eff they have been peddling this position for years.
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Seriously, is the organization that should be protecting our digital rights, now defending the abuse of extreme right billionaires, who are stealing our human creativity to make us all redundant?Are you couped by MAGA?
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@eff "Billionaires stealing creative work is fine" is a stance you can take, I guess.
It's a bad stance, but you can take it.
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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/
@eff EFF are a bunch of corrupt clowns, eat shit
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@eff@mastodon.social So, uh, you taking donations from the Slop companies now? Is this why you're dropping toxic takes like this?
They're literally destroying the commons by scraping web servers to death, they're burning the planet with this stampede to build data centers and polluting water, and then their poorly designed models aren't even any good at what they claim to be able to do. They introduce bugs, give bad answers, and record incorrect information in medical transcripts!
But sure, fight for the big guy as he puts his boot on the necks of the rest of us.@deathkitten They are so stuck on a theory divorced from reality they are willing to let the average person get destroyed for their conceptual frameworks
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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/
@eff are you serious? You guys are compromised.
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@corigan01 @eff they have been peddling this position for years.
@707Kat @eff I guess I never really paid enough attention to notice, I had figured the EFF was on our side and just left them alone to fight my own battles.
It sucks to feel I trusted them... It feels like the ground is crumbling as every major thing I thought was on our side turns out to be terrible (like linux, Debian, and most of FOSS right now).
I really need to start my own org at this point, I don't really know who else to trust.
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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/
@eff fair use is not for profit. What they did is. Libraries are fair use ( yes, including shadow libraries and torrents) Fair use is a human tool, for sharing knowledge and art without commercial consideration. Fair use has nothing what-so-fucking-ever to do with what the corporations do.
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@707Kat @eff I guess I never really paid enough attention to notice, I had figured the EFF was on our side and just left them alone to fight my own battles.
It sucks to feel I trusted them... It feels like the ground is crumbling as every major thing I thought was on our side turns out to be terrible (like linux, Debian, and most of FOSS right now).
I really need to start my own org at this point, I don't really know who else to trust.
@corigan01 @eff yeah it sucks. I think I only knew because it’s been a subject I have been paying really close attention to.
There are still good people and organizations out there. The EFF does do good regarding surveillance. People are banding together and building moats. But yes, it does make the landscape bleak for current existing organizations.
I think some of the ones that swing gAI will change their mind, as I have seen it elsewhere before. EFF I think not.
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@eff The irony here is that this is the same EFF that has worked to liberalize copyright law, this lawsuit being no different. Unpopular as AI training may be, I am a bit surprised to see the pushback to the EFF's actions (which honestly looks like a coordinated, corporate-backed effort to shore up support for copyright maximalism), but I get why taking a principled stand is unpopular since it necessarily entails defending unpopular positions occasionally. Even Techdirt defends the practice.
@Big_Blue_Gnu @eff just because people are pushing back, does not mean it's corporate backed. People are standing behind EFF's principles here, or at least what "we" thought they stood for. This is dissappointing on so many levels.
wow that's fucking bad