After acquiring Artstation in 2021, Epic Games has now released an official policy regarding AI artwork on the Artstation website.
Whilst the Fortnite developer isn’t looking to suspend the use of AI artwork on Artstation, it does plan on addressing concerns laid out by artists with a tagging system that’ll allow every artist to choose whether or not they want their artwork to be used for AI research.
Epic wrote in a statement, “We believe artists should be free to decide how their art is used, and simultaneously we don’t want to become a gatekeeper with site terms that stifle AI research and commercialization when it respects artists’ choices and copyright law.”
Since implementing a tagging system won’t be enough, Epic has encouraged artists to use Artstation’s infringement system when they discover that their artwork is still being violated even after stating that they don’t want AI to use their art.
Epic went on to add that more features are underway that’ll provide artists with more control over their work.
The Rise of AI in the Creative Industry
AI artworks have significantly become popular in the last couple of weeks such that an AI-generated image snatched first place at a Colorado State Fair art competition.
Conversations surrounding the use of AI have led to concerns regarding companies that utilise AI to avoid paying actual artists to create an artwork.
Epic went on to reaffirm that artists should only submit their original works that, “You created and we encourage you to be transparent in the process. Please only publish work that either you own or that you have permission to publish.”
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
