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Wouldn't copyright infringement with AI only apply if you try and sell a product or make money with it? I would think OpenAI would just insert some disclaimer making the user responsible for the final use of the image or output, since anyone can make fan art and that, I don't think, is infringing any copyrights. I would see no difference between generating fan art, and actually making it, so it's on the user to understand how they are using the tool.

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Nope, copyright strictly depend on whether the infringer makes money from it. By that logic, Neo-Nazis can print up pictures of Batman wearing a swastika and start giving them away for free, and there's nothing Warner Brothers / DC can do.

Right, but technically OpenAi (or Midjourney) isn't the one explicitly generating the copyrighted image. Their tool is, but not based on their own intentions, and it seems that responsibility is on the user who generated the prompt. I don't know much about the copyright laws, but it seems generative AI can be classified as an artistic tool.

Fan art and memes are tolerated despite their infringing nature. It's a laughable double-standard. You only need compare the contents of a typical Fandom wiki vs. Creative Commons repositories to see this in action.

If fan art increases brand recognition and promotes the properties, then it gets a free pass.

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