'Gruffalo' illustrator intends legal action over AI-generated images

Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of the children's book character "The Gruffalo," intends to take action against AI-generated images in the style of his work. 

"I am considering taking legal action," Scheffler told German newspaper Die Zeit in an article published on Saturday. "Ideally, I'd like to team up with other artists and take legal action together." He is in talks with his publishers about possible support.

Die Zeit spoke to the artist, who works using traditional methods, about how OpenAI's ChatGPT language model, when asked for an image of a "Gruffalo", produces images within minutes that bear striking similarities to Scheffler's works. 

"I'm appalled - that's quite clearly my character, only the backgrounds look completely different to how I draw them," Scheffler said.

It wouldn't be the first lawsuit of this kind: Penguin Random House, the publisher behind the children's book series "Coconut, the Little Dragon," has already filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. It alleges that the AI chatbot infringed the copyright of author and illustrator Ingo Siegner's work.

According to the publisher, ChatGPT reproduces content from Siegner's copyright-protected works in a recognizable form even in response to simple queries. The German Publishers and Booksellers Association supports the lawsuit.

OpenAI stated that it was investigating the allegations. “We respect the rights of creators and content owners, and are having productive conversations with many publishers around the world so that they can also benefit from the opportunities of this technology.”

Various publishers, studios and authors have taken legal action against OpenAI and other AI firms, alleging that their intellectual property has been unlawfully used to train AI systems. 

In Germany, the GEMA collecting society prevailed in court against OpenAI in a dispute over the use of song lyrics.