Microsoft’s Commitment to Protect Customers in AI IP Lawsuits

Microsoft has announced that it will defend customers who purchase its artificial intelligence (AI)-related products against intellectual property rights infringement claims. This move by the software giant aims to alleviate any concerns its customers may have about using the “Copilot” AI application to generate content based on existing work.

In a Thursday blog post, Hussein Nobar, Microsoft’s General Counsel for Legal Affairs, stated that the “Microsoft Copilot Copyright Commitment” will provide protection for customers as long as they “use the controls and content filtering included in our products.”

Microsoft has also pledged to cover fines and settlements, emphasizing its commitment to safeguarding intellectual property rights when it comes to Copilot.

Nobar said, “We believe in standing by our customers when they use our products. We charge fees to our commercial customers for the Copilot service, and if its use creates legal issues, those should be our issues, not our customers.”

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Legal Concerns Surrounding AI
New Questions Arise

Legal Concerns Surrounding AI

Generative AI applications gather current content, such as art, articles, and code, and use it to create new materials that can simplify or automate various tasks. Microsoft has integrated this technology, developed in partnership with OpenAI, into many of its flagship products, including Office and Windows, potentially exposing customers to legal risks.

Artists, writers, and software developers have already filed lawsuits or raised objections against the unauthorized use of their creative works. In one complaint, lawyer and computer programmer Matthew Garrett accused GitHub, a Microsoft partner, of violating open-source software development licenses. Additionally, a group of anonymous individuals filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the “massive” theft of personal information for training artificial intelligence models in a profit-driven pursuit.

News organisations are considering their own complaints, with comedian Sarah Silverman filing a lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta Platforms. Artists whose images were used by AI-powered image generators are suing “Stability AI” and “Megadrones” in a San Francisco court, although the judge expressed doubts about aspects of the case.

New Questions Arise

Generative AI raises new questions about the fair use of copyrighted materials,
a legal defence that permits specific services of content.
The principle of fair use has become more complex, particularly after a Supreme Court ruling in May favoured a photographer who accused Andy Warhol of improperly using her work to create 16 versions of the late musician Prince.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has taken legal measures to maintain customer loyalty.
In 2000, the company offered compensation to partners and customers who used or resold its software, seeking to differentiate itself from Linux and open-source software providers.
In 2017, Microsoft, then a seller of open-source software,
offered customer protection from legal suits regarding its Azure cloud products.

In June, the company announced a program to assist customers in ensuring that their use of AI on Microsoft platforms complies with global laws and regulations. Earlier this year,
Adobe also offered legal protection against intellectual property rights violations to subscribers of its AI tools.

Microsoft’s Commitment to Protect Customers

Microsoft&#8217;s Commitment to Protect Customers

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Microsoft’s Commitment to Protect Customers