OpenAI Changes Sora App’s Policy for Copyright Holders, Gives Users More Control Over Cameos

OpenAI is making several changes to the Sora app, including changing the policy for copyright holders and giving users more control over how their likeness is being used. With this, rightsholders do not have to opt out of the Sora app, and instead, for the artificial intelligence (AI) video model to generate a copyrighted character, they must have opted in. This could result in the disappearance of a large number of videos that feature characters such as Pikachu, SpongeBob, Power Rangers, and Michael Jackson.

OpenAI Backtracks on Sora App's Copyright Policy

Ever since its launch, the Sora app has been a hit among users. The invite-only iOS app, which is powered by the Sora 2 AI model, allows them to generate 10-second videos of random objects, fictional characters (including the copyrighted ones), and even themselves (this requires uploading a video and verifying the identity). Users can also use a feature called Cameo to generate videos of other users, as long as they've consented to it.

However, just days after its debut, it appears the Sora app has faced some backlash from copyright holders and users. The app launched with an opt-out policy for rightsholders, which means they would have to explicitly highlight that they did not want their characters to be generated by the AI model for it to be off-limits.

But now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mentioned in a blog post that rightsholders will get “more granular control over generation of characters, similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls.” The granular control essentially lets copyright holders set limits on how their characters can be used.

Bill Peebles, Head of Sora at OpenAI, also posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) to convey the same line of thinking to users. Users can now give instructions to Sora to set limits on the type of generations others can make with their Cameo. For instance, Pebbles says, users can mention, “Don't put me in videos that involve political commentary” or “Don't let me say this word.” This can be found in Settings > Edit Cameo > Cameo Preferences > Restrictions.