Published: March 19, 2025, 04:42 PM
Hundreds of Hollywood stars, including Ben Stiller, Cate Blanchett, and Cynthia Erivo, have urged Donald Trump’s administration to safeguard film, TV, and music copyrights from big tech and artificial intelligence.
In an open letter signed by over 400 actors, directors, and artists, they warn against allowing tech giants like Google and OpenAI to train AI models on copyrighted content. The letter argues that weakening copyright protections would harm the US creative industry, which generates $230 billion in wages and supports over 2.3 million jobs.
The appeal follows Trump`s January executive order aimed at boosting America`s AI dominance while reducing government control over the technology. Companies like Google and OpenAI have argued they need broad access to copyrighted material to remain competitive against China’s rapid AI advancements.
However, Hollywood creatives fear AI could replace jobs and lower content quality. This concern was central to the 2023 writers` and actors` strikes, which resulted in agreements requiring consent and compensation for AI’s use of scripts and actors` likenesses.
With tech giants gaining more influence in entertainment, Hollywood’s push to protect copyright laws has taken on new urgency. The letter stresses that AI’s impact extends beyond entertainment, affecting all industries reliant on knowledge and creativity.
