September 11, 2023
Microsoft has announced a new Copilot Copyright Commitment, which will protect commercial customers from copyright infringement claims if they use the company’s AI-powered Copilot services.
The commitment applies to the paid versions of Microsoft Copilot services and Bing Chat Enterprise, and it covers the output generated by the Copilots. To be eligible for protection, customers must use the guardrails and content filters built into the products.
“We believe in standing behind our customers when they use our products,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer. “We are charging our commercial customers for our Copilots, and if their use creates legal issues, we should make this our problem rather than our customers’ problem.”
The Copilot Copyright Commitment is part of Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to address the legal and policy challenges posed by generative AI. The company has also published a set of AI Principles, which outline its commitment to responsible AI development and use.
“We are committed to working with others in the tech sector, authors and artists and their representatives, government officials, the academic community, and civil society to ensure that AI advances the spread of knowledge while protecting the rights and needs of creators,” Smith said.
The commitment applies to copyright claims only. It does not cover other types of claims, such as trademark infringement or defamation. Meanwhile, customers must use the guardrails and content filters built into the products to be eligible for protection. These guardrails are designed to help prevent the Copilots from generating infringing content.
The sources for this piece include an article in MicrosoftBlog.
