LLMs aren't word processors. If I went around, recorded broadway shows, and then sold them to anyone that wants them. You'd agree that's violating copyright.

LLMs aren't word processors. If I went around, recorded broadway shows, and then sold them to anyone that wants them. You'd agree that's violating copyright. Even if I mixed them or made my own remix, that's still a copyright violation. Regardless of what the purchaser does with the material, I'm violating copyright because I'm selling derivative works. The only thing LLMs do is create derivative works. It doesn't matter that you can prompt them to put their own spin on derivatives just like it wouldn't matter if I took requests with my bootleg mixing company (I'm just a tool of piracy! I have no control if you decide to sell the works after I sold it to you). I'll also point out, OpenAI is extra on thin ice because it's not infeasible that someone like the NY Times wouldn't make their own LLM based on their material and sell the output to subscribers. That's a real harm. Fanfic doesn't often get prosecuted because nobody is sell it so harm is hard to prove. But when you have a business built around selling these derivative works, that's the issue.