Format

As Andy Warhol famously said, “I don’t know where the artificial starts and the real stops.” In the age of artificial intelligence, such cryptic words resonate prophetic—especially considering that AI itself allowed the pop-art star, who passed away long ago, to narrate his own Netflix 2022 docuseries, The Andy Warhol Diaries.
The relationship between artificial intelligence and audiovisual works, however, goes far beyond the reproduction of the voices of famous people from the past. For instance, the BBC’s wildlife documentary series, The Watches, have been using computer vision software for years to film the most striking moments of British wildlife. More recently, a number of top-tier broadcasters have lately begun airing AI-anchored newscasts and economic programs.
But there is more: for some time now leading television production companies have leveraged artificial intelligence to try and generate original format concepts. For example, in August 2023, French multinational TV production company Banijay unveiled its AI Creative Fund, which encourages exploring the endless possibilities of artificial intelligence when applied to content creation. When announcing the initiative, chief content officer James Townley remarkably clarified that the fund will be used to merely “empower producers” and that “human creativity will always prevail.”
But when it comes to the law, the relationship between human and “robotic” creativity could be a little more complicated than that, especially as regards the thorniest legal question arising from the use of AI systems to create original TV works: who owns the rights in the format?

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