Determine whether studios may use writers’ works to train AI models

Determine whether film and television studios may use writers’ works to train artificial-intelligence models under the 2023 Writers Guild of America Minimum Basic Agreement.

Background

The paper presents the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and resulting Minimum Basic Agreement as an example of collective bargaining that regulates generative AI. The agreement limits the use of AI-generated text, protects writers’ credit and compensation, permits voluntary use of AI with company consent, and requires disclosure when supplied material was generated by AI.

Despite these protections, the agreement does not resolve whether studios may use writers’ works as training data for AI systems. This remains a specific unresolved issue concerning copyright, consent, compensation, and the future control of occupational creative work.

References

The agreement leaves unresolved whether studios may use writers' works to train models, but it demonstrates that collective bargaining can protect occupational authorship and bargaining-unit work without prohibiting voluntary use of the technology.

— Artificial Intelligence as an Economic, Environmental, Geopolitical, and Social Transformation  (2609.21632 - Marciniak, 18 Sep 2026) in Section 7, subsection “Collective bargaining backed by industrial action”