OpenAI is getting ahead of potential legal disputes surrounding its Sora video generation tool by offering film studios and copyright owners future control over their intellectual property and a share of the revenue. This strategic move aims to win over Hollywood before the technology becomes widely available and has time to trigger the legal battles that plague other generative AI models.
The company plans to give content owners detailed options to manage how their characters or works are used by the Sora engine. A key feature is expected to be the ability to completely block the use of a particular intellectual property. The initiative is an attempt to build a bridge with the creative industry, which has been watching the advances in video generation with growing concern. Behind the scenes, it is said that major players such as Disney are approaching similar technologies with great caution, fearing uncontrolled use of their iconic characters.
A key element of the proposal is a revenue-sharing model with rightsholders who choose to make their assets available in the Sora ecosystem. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, acknowledged that developing a fair and effective monetisation system will take experimentation and time. Testing of different approaches is expected to begin soon in a closed group of Sora users, with a coherent model eventually to be implemented across the company’s broader suite of products.
Although Sora is not yet publicly available – it is currently being tested by a small group of creators and filmmakers – its announcements have caused a stir in the industry. OpenAI’s proactive strategy to settle copyright issues before the product’s wide debut could be a significant competitive advantage against similar tools being developed by Google or Meta. Securing partnerships with large content providers is seen as key to commercial success and legitimising the AI-generated video market.
