Although the book is not primarily focused on intellectual property-related issues that arise from the use of GenAI tools in various stages of visual storytelling, it does touch upon some key concerns about the suitability of the new techniques and methods of video production for US copyright regime. It also gives a historical analysis of the development of the creative machines, presents findings from empirical research, and provides step-by-step guidance to introduce the intricacies of working with numerous AI tools in filmmaking, which all make the book a valuable source for copyright lawyers wishing to equip themselves with necessary technical and historical background to respond to artists’ emerging needs.

A closer look at the book

Chapter 1 introduces the use of GenAI tools in video production. By illustrating striking examples, such as the Astronaut Riding a Horse, The Hustle, and Will Smith Eating Spaghetti, the authors not only invite the readers into this new world, but also demonstrate that the line between science fiction and reality is getting significantly blurred (p. 9). They further express concerns about the possibility of generating deepfakes, copyrightability and authorship of the end products. However, the book rebuts them by emphasising the benefits of the GenAI technology and the innovative outcomes it brings. For instance, it mentions the possibilities of creating highly personalised, effective, interactive, and collaborative advertisements (e.g., Coca-Cola’s Create Real Magic ad, see **here **and pp. 12-13), and democratizing the film industry by facilitating production and by allowing anyone to experiment the capabilities of the novel approaches to storytelling (e.g., Toys ‘R’ Us origin story, created entirely through AI-generated visuals, see p. 13-14).

To support this position, in Chapter 2, the book refers to some legal arguments that can either rebut potential objections to the use of GenAI tools in video production or, at least, offer a middle ground between the contrasting views on such tools. The overarching theme that constitutes the foundation of all the legal arguments provided is that AI tools need to be seen as collaborators to or enhancers of human creativity, rather than something substituting it. Lack of artistic intent, personal emotion and experiences, and limits of machine creativity are all argued to demonstrate the deficiencies of AI tools in replacing human creators. Moreover the book, agreeing with the US Copyright Office’s views, holds that the criterion of exercising sufficient degree of control on the output necessitates a collaboration between humans and AI tools. Accordingly, such collaborative works will only qualify for copyrightability, if humans make creative choices by providing concise and original instructions at various stages [see **IPKat here **for an exemplary AI-generated visual work gaining copyright protection in the US].

The book, building on the collaboration theme, further emphasises that sole human authorship, particularly in the movie industry, can no longer be the case, and that collaborative creation between humans and AI tools should be recognised by copyright laws (p. 42). The authors argue that this collaboration – and therefore human involvement and originality – can manifest itself in, at least, seven stages of the filmmaking workflow, including concept development, image animation, sound design and scoring, and final editing and refinement. Original human contributions may involve providing prompts, applying lip-syncs to still images, selecting sounds to match the visuals, and ensuring cohesive storytelling or aesthetic harmony throughout the film (p. 52). Although none of these claims may sound novel or striking to the copyright enthusiasts, what makes the book worthy of a read is that it can make lawmakers and legal practitioners deeply and accurately understand where, how, and to what extent humans remain active participants of the video production process, and act or advise accordingly.

In Chapter 3, the evolution of AI technology for generating visual content is traced, primarily to demonstrate that assistance of computer programmes is neither unexpected nor foreign to filmmaking. The book surveys a wide range of historical and contemporary examples, beginning with Daedalus’s statutes that imitated human motion through hidden mechanisms and Ada Lovelace’s early attempts on revealing the “potential for machines to compose music or create visual art, given the right programming” (p. 63). It then moves through the pivotal role CGI and motion capture played in the creation of Gollum (see here), The Next Rembrandt project, and works of AI artists such as Memo Akten and Refik Anadol, before culminating in Ai-Da’s Portrait of Alan Turing. Taken together, they illustrate the longstanding relevance of mimicking humans’ physical acts, emotional reactions, and cognitive capacities in creative practice. Furthermore, the historical analysis makes it apparent that the assistance of machines or computer programmes with visual content creation is a well-established practice, which is now merely changing form and improving the support it can offer to humans.

Chapter 4 hosts 12 interviews with filmmakers, AI video artists, tech professionals, CEOs of video-editing AI tools, and scholars of film studies. Although the interviewees all emphasise different aspects of the opportunities AI tools presents, two themes stand out as recurring: AI will make interactive movies possible, allowing the audience to create their own storylines and while democratizing the industry, it will likely cause job displacement which therefore necessitates ethical and responsible use of such tools.

Chapter 5 provides highly detailed guidelines to individuals who wish to create films with the help of numerous AI tools. By providing tool-specific techniques at various stages of video production, the book serves as a handbook for starters *and *a reference for lawyers who need to understand and track the amount of human contribution.

Finally, in Chapter 6, authors present their predictions on AI-driven innovations in the movie industry, making it, once again, clear that involvement of AI in the creative industries is not going anywhere and therefore, lawyers need to carve out the necessary room to address and protect them properly.

Final thoughts

The authors paint a very clear and useful picture of how AI tools operate in filmmaking, from turning ideas into a scenario, to the final refinements of the end product. They demonstrate the techniques of approaching the relevant tools, while also warning potential users against the harms they can cause, including the disappearance of various jobs, not only among post-production staff but also among on-camera actors. The book also raises questions in relation to the copyrightability of outputs, however, disregards them quite easily – and perhaps even repeatedly – by implying that sufficient human intervention can *always *be found and therefore, allow those works to enjoy copyright.

Although this Kat also believes that the originality and the so-called human authorship requirements can be met even when artists work with AI tools, it should not be treated as the default. The problem of hallucination and black-box nature of AI tools require users to make personal, original contributions with their instructions *and *ensure those contributions are directly reflected in the final output. Therefore, it *is *possible to see and think about many examples where the AI’s output needs to be denied protection. However, the book does not seem to provide many views contradicting the one it favours, making the legal analysis parts remain limited and one-sided. The authors do touch upon the protection of likeness of actors, as well as the ownership of related rights (particularly actors’ and performers’ rights over their performances), however it does not provide sufficient analysis or exploration of these and do not suggest a specific path to follow.

It is therefore important to note that the book is a valuable resource for copyright lawyers, insofar as it is treated as a handbook that allows lawyers to (i) trace the required human input in different stages of AI video production, (ii) understand the different aims and capabilities of different AI tools, (iii) acknowledge the fact that moviemakers have been using tools that assist them which did not challenge copyrightability of the end product and that AI is now providing a better option to them and an enhanced experience to the audience, and accordingly (iv) conclude whether a certain use they are dealing with should be considered copyrightable, while also keeping the legal discussions (e.g., The future of the movie industry in the wake of generative AI) in mind.

Details

Publisher: CRC Press, June 2025

Extent: 226 pages

Format: Hardback

ISBN: 9781032987774

Image credit: Söğüt Atilla-Aydın, in collaboration with DeepAI