Using copyrighted material to train AI isn’t always fair use, judge rules. But what are the implications for photographers?

Judge ruling in Court of Law.

The rise of AI has also given rise to dozens of legal battles asking a key question: Does training an AI on copyrighted material fall under fair use? In one of the first cases to reach an initial decision, a federal judge in Delaware has said that using copyrighted material to train an AI did not fall under fair use, in part because the resulting AI competed with the original.

In Thompson Reuters Vs Ross Intelligence, US Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas ruled that Ross Intelligence's use of editorial content owned by Thompson Reuters did not fall under fair use.