Scarlett Johansson, R.E.M. and hundreds of other creative figures are backing Stealing Isn’t Innovation, a campaign arguing that generative AI should not be built on creative work without permission or compensation. The campaign calls for licensing, stronger enforcement of creators’ rights and an option to exclude work from AI training. Its use of “theft” is an accusation about alleged practices, not a court’s legal finding.
What is the Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign?
Launched in January 2026, Stealing Isn’t Innovation is a campaign against using creative work to develop generative-AI systems without authorization or payment. Engadget reported that more than 700 creative signatories had joined at launch, including actor Scarlett Johansson and members of the band R.E.M. That figure describes the launch-period count, not a verified current total.
The signatories’ concern is not limited to one art form. The campaign frames unlicensed use of creative work as a threat to people whose livelihoods depend on writing, music, performance and other creative labor. Its name and its phrase “theft at a grand scale” express the campaign’s position; they do not establish that a court has found any particular company or use unlawful.
What do the artists want AI companies to do?
The campaign’s demands focus on the terms on which creative work is used to develop AI, rather than on a blanket prohibition on AI development.
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- Get permission and establish licensing or partnerships. The campaign wants developers to agree terms with rights holders before using their work.
- Enforce existing rights. It calls for stronger enforcement where creators’ rights are violated.
- Give creators an opt-out. Creators should be able to exclude their work from generative-AI training, according to the campaign.
These are related but distinct asks: licensing addresses authorization and compensation; opt-out concerns control over training use; enforcement concerns what happens when rights are allegedly breached.
Why is Scarlett Johansson associated with the debate?
Johansson’s earlier dispute with OpenAI helps explain why questions of consent and creative identity resonate in this campaign, but it was a separate episode about a voice rather than evidence about training datasets. In May 2024, she said OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice called Sky sounded “eerily similar” to her after she had declined an offer to lend her voice. OpenAI said Sky was voiced by a different professional actress and was not intended to resemble Johansson. SAG-AFTRA said it shared her concerns about clarity and transparency and supported protections against unauthorized digital replication.
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A dispute over an AI voice that resembles a person raises questions about voice and identity. The campaign’s broader objection is to using creative works as training material without permission or payment. Neither issue, on its own, proves what material was used to train a particular model.
What does “AI slop” mean in this debate?
Here, “AI slop” refers to concerns about the effects of mass-produced synthetic material, including output that may be low-quality or misleading. That concern is connected to, but different from, the campaign’s objection to training systems on creative work without authorization or compensation.
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It helps to keep three questions separate: whether work was used as training input without permission; whether generated output imitates someone’s voice or likeness; and whether the output is low-quality or misleading. They can overlap, but they are not one legal claim, and the remedies for one do not automatically answer the others.
How are platforms responding to voice imitation?
Spotify offers a specific music-platform example, not a universal industry rule or a complete response to the campaign’s demands. Its support policy says music that impersonates an artist’s voice without permission, including AI voice cloning, can be removed. In a September 2025 newsroom announcement, Spotify also described expanded reporting for artists, work on reviewing content mismatches, and disclosures for AI contributions in music credits when labels or distributors provide that information.
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Those measures address impersonation and information about AI contributions to music. They do not, by themselves, establish permission or payment for training inputs, or provide a general opt-out and enforcement system for every creator.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Has it been legally decided that AI companies stole artists’ work?
No broad legal conclusion follows from the campaign’s accusation. The U.S. Copyright Office’s AI initiative examines issues including copyright in AI-generated work and the use of copyrighted material in AI training. Its examination shows that these questions are under active policy and legal consideration; it is not a categorical ruling that all AI training on copyrighted material is lawful or unlawful.
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The sources cited here do not establish which specific works appeared in particular AI training datasets or resolve the merits of any individual training-data dispute. The campaign’s language should therefore be understood as advocacy about alleged conduct, not a finding of liability.
How to understand the dispute
The central disagreement is about control over creative work and the terms on which it may be used in AI systems. The campaign argues for permission, licensing, enforcement and creator choice. Johansson’s Sky dispute illustrates a related but separate concern about voice identity; Spotify’s policies illustrate one platform’s approach to unauthorized voice impersonation and AI-credit disclosures. None of those examples alone settles the wider questions about training data or copyright.
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