Game Of Thrones Meets The U.S. Copyright Office

In a series of plot twists that would make George R.R. Martin proud, the typically staid U.S. Copyright Office has become a proxy in the increasingly heated battle between tech companies developing generative AI products and the creators suing them for copyright infringement, many of whom I'm proud to be representing in several ongoing matters.

To set the scene: After generative AI burst into public consciousness a couple of years ago, the U.S. Copyright Office began seeking public comment in August 2023 on the myriad copyright issues raised by the fact that Meta and OpenAI, among others, are training their LLMs on millions of copyrighted works. During the lengthy comment period, companies like Meta submitted lengthy, heavily lawyered submissions arguing that they were not committing mass copyright infringement, or, even if they were, it should be considered fair use. On the other side of the ledger, authors and trade groups representing creatives submitted their