Digital Hollywood: The AI & Entertainment Summit
Generative AI Law: Let's Get Real - Is Copyright a Right or Does it Have Temporary Legal Status?
Let's get real. The legal system is moving — but is it moving fast enough, and in the right direction? The creative and entertainment communities are watching the AI training data lawsuits with a mixture of hope and dread. The New York Times versus OpenAI. Getty Images against Stability AI. Class actions against Midjourney, DeviantArt and Github. Each case is a piece of a much larger question that the courts have never been asked to answer before. The Supreme Court ruled that Andy Warhol infringed on Lynn Goldsmith's photograph of Prince — and that decision sent shockwaves through the creative world. So here is the fundamental question this roundtable confronts directly: Is copyright a permanent, foundational right — or in the age of artificial intelligence, has it acquired temporary legal status
Peter Csathy, Chairman, Creative Media, Moderator
Jeffrey Bennett serves as SAG-AFTRA’s Chief Legal Officer, leading the union’s legal strategy and guiding its public policy agenda. He directs SAG-AFTRA’s Legal, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Professional Representatives, Music, and Foreign Royalties & Residuals Analysis Departments, and also oversees the Center for Business Innovation. At SAG-AFTRA, Bennett has advanced and enforced member protections across a wide range of matters, from collective bargaining agreement enforcement to union governance and high-impact advocacy at the federal and state levels. He played a pivotal role in the union’s landmark film foreclosure project, where SAG-AFTRA, for the first time, leveraged its security interests in films to help secure payment of uncollected arbitration awards. His government affairs and policy leadership has helped deliver major wins for members on issues including rights of publicity, production tax incentives, statutory music royalties, digital replica guardrails, and child performer protections. Bennett is also a builder of coalitions and durable relationships across entertainment, media, and technology. He has worked to bring together stakeholders—from studios and broadcasters to digital platforms, and emerging technology companies—to navigate changing business practices and align around solutions that protect performers. By cultivating productive relationships with executives, policymakers, and peer organizations, he has helped position SAG-AFTRA as a leading voice and trusted advisor on fast-moving marketplace developments and policy questions shaping the future of the industry. Before joining SAG-AFTRA, Bennett worked at William Morris Endeavor, practiced privately representing creative talent in Los Angeles, and served as a policy analyst for the governor of Alaska. He has also taught as an adjunct professor of entertainment law at Western State University College of Law, spoken on panels at leading industry events, and volunteered for many years as a BookPAL with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
Avery Williams is a trial lawyer specializing in complex commercial litigation and intellectual property matters. He is co-chair of McKool Smith’s trade-secret practice, and also focuses on representing clients in emerging copyright disputes concerning infringement related to AI-generated images. He is the author of McKool Smith’s AI Litigation Tracker, which provides weekly updates to monitor breaking developments related to key generative AI-focused copyright infringement-related litigations impacting the media and entertainment sectors. Avery represents both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts across the nation. His experience includes being a member of the McKool Smith trial team that secured a “Top 100 Verdict” for the developers of Canyon Ridge Resort against financial services firm Sterne Agee & Leach, and one of its former investment bankers. On the defense side, Avery’s victories include helping to secure a complete defense verdict for CenturyLink in a securities fraud suit brought by five groups of investors and four of its current and past executives who accused the company of securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud.
Avery is recognized as a leading lawyer for commercial litigation by Best Lawyers.
