The rapid progress of generative AI has opened tense debates about images. Controversies are occurring on several fronts. Users of Midjourney claim protection for the work they have generated, while photographers are suing platforms such as Stable Diffusion that are using their work to train their algorithms.
Analysing the court cases made against image generators, the presentation with Séverine Dusollier and Nicolas Malevé discusses why objects such as image datasets and large language models do not lend themselves easily to the frame of copyright. As they dissolve the image into statistics, they undo the ground on which legal claims of property can be made.
This creates a dilemma for copyright scholars, artists and activists who want to resist the extractive logic of digital platforms through property rights. They can either cling to a romantic vision of authorship as a solitary gesture which gives little grasp over the operational logic of AI platforms and may ultimately lack legal ground. Or they can bargain for a fractional share of the extracted value and negotiate with platforms on a purely economic rationale which could have unintended consequences for creators and artists in terms of fairness and sustainability.
Moderated by Ozan Kamiloglu.
To book and register: Photographers Gallery
Date: 06:30pm - 08:00pm, Wed 28 Jan 2026