New federal right would protect an artist’s “style” beyond registered works — “inspiration is fine, impersonation is not.”
Parody, fan art and AI research carved out — Adobe: “the creative economy is worth $1.2 trillion, about 4.2% of U.S. GDP.”
U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to curb the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to copy an artist’s signature style and exploit it commercially without permission. The driving concern: with a single text prompt, anyone can now mass-produce images mimicking a specific artist’s signature style — at no cost, in seconds, and without consent or compensation — and flood the marketplace with them. While copyright protects individual registered works, the style an artist spends years refining has fallen through a legal gap that no statute addresses. This bill aims squarely at that gap.
Jung Han
The measure, known as the CREATOR Act (Creative Rights for Artists’ Technique and Originality Are Reserved Act), would give visual artists a way to fight back when their style is imitated without authorization. According to the media outlet Axios, the bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of House members: Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah) and Valerie P. Foushee (D-N.C.). Imaging and design software maker Adobe has stepped to the front of the effort to back it.