Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett back their campaign accusing AI firms of ‘stealing’

Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett are among hundreds of actors, musicians and writers who are backing a new campaign accusing artificial intelligence companies of illegally using creative work to train their systems.

The campaign, titled “Stealing Is Not Innovation”, was launched on Thursday with the support of nearly 800 professionals, including the band REM and best-selling author Jodi Picoult.

In a joint statement, the signatories accused technology companies of using copyrighted materials “without authorization or regard to copyright law” to build commercial AI platforms.

“Musicians, writers and creators of all genres come together with a simple message,” the statement said. “Stealing our work is nothing new. It is not progress. It is theft – plain and simple.”

The campaign urges AI developers to pursue licensing agreements and relationships with rights holders rather than scraping creative content from the open web. It also acknowledges firms that have already taken that approach. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has signed licensing agreements with organizations including Disney and The Guardian, while Warner Music Group has reached an agreement with AI music producer Suno.

Despite these agreements, copyright remains one of the most contentious issues in the AI ​​boom. Large language models and graph generators rely on large datasets drawn from online text, images and audio to generate answers. Many creators argue that this material is protected by intellectual property and should not be used without permission or compensation.

AI firms, including OpenAI, have denied that using publicly available data falls under “fair use”, a US legal doctrine that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission in certain circumstances. The dispute is now being tested in the courts, and dozens of lawsuits have been filed in the United States over the past two years.

Johansson has found himself at the center of the debate. In 2024, he accused OpenAI of using a voice almost identical to his own in the ChatGPT assistant, saying he was “shocked, angry and in disbelief”. The company then removed the word.

Other notable supporters of the campaign include actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and singer Cyndi Lauper. Gilligan has previously described artificial intelligence as “the most expensive and energy-consuming cheating machine in the world”.

The initiative is organized by the Human Artistry Campaign, whose supporters include the Writers Guild of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which went on strike in 2023 in part because of concerns about the use of AI.

The debate is also heating up in the UK. The government has faced criticism for proposals that would allow AI companies to use copyrighted material without prior permission unless the creators expressly opt out. The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said this month ministers wanted to “reset” the policy, with a formal review expected to be published in March.

As the adoption of AI accelerates across media, entertainment and publishing, the campaign reflects a growing push for creators to control how their work is used – and to ensure the next wave of technological innovation doesn’t come at their expense.