A.I. Art: Is It Stealing Your Art?

 

By Nydia Tungsten
 

I like a lot of others tinker and play with AI, or “Artificial Intelligence.” I also use it to help with my writing, NOT writing for me, but helping with how I describe my characters, so I know I am describing them correctly. That being said, I posted a few of my tinkerings in a Discord chat, and the next thing I know, I am being attacked by some unhinged “artist” swearing how AI art isn’t art! And that it is garbage, and I am garbage for even using it. And stealing from him and other “artists,” I really tried to de-escalate, saying it goes by description, not stealing, and he informed me that words are “NOT ART!” 
 

Well, I am sure Mr. Shakespeare is going to be absolutely devastated to find out about this…

But let us pull it back to images, to me and a hell of a lot of others, art is what is appealing to the beholder. There are a lot of artists out there that, in my humble opinion, are just .. Trash, entitled hacks that mummy told that their art is “special and needs to be shared with the world.”  Crap shot out of a canon onto a canvas is NOT art, bugs glued to cardboard is not art. Furry girls drawn with HUGE boobs and inflated bodies are not “art.” ANY fetish drawing is not art. And I REALLY doubt ANY AI would even think of stealing that.

BUT… that is my opinion, and we all know, opinions are like buttholes every everyone has one, and most stink!
 

But let's get into facts, shall we? 

 

It has not been proven that AI "steals" from other artists in any legal or definitive sense. The claim is highly contested and depends on how you define "stealing." Here's a clear breakdown:

1. What AI Training Actually Does

Large language models and image generators (like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL·E) are trained on billions of publicly available images and texts scraped from the internet.

These datasets include copyrighted works, but the AI does not store or copy the original images. It learns statistical patterns—shapes, colors, styles, compositions—similar to how a human artist studies thousands of paintings to develop their own style. 

 

The output is not a reproduction of any single training image but a new synthesis based on learned probabilities. 

 

Legal Status (As of 2025): 
No court has ruled that AI training on public data constitutes copyright infringement.

The U.S. Copyright Office (2023–2025) has consistently stated that AI-generated works are not  copyrightable because they lack human authorship, but it has not banned training on copyrighted material.

Ongoing lawsuits (e.g., Getty Images v. Stability AI, NYT v. OpenAI, artists v. Midjourney) argue infringement, but no final ruling has established that training = theft.

A 2024 federal judge dismissed parts of the Andersen v. Stability AI case, noting that mere inclusion in training data does not prove infringement unless the output is "substantially similar."

3. "Stealing" vs. "Learning"
 

Claim:  "AI copies artists' exact styles"

 

Reality:  Outputs can mimic styles, but so can human artists (e.g., Van Gogh forgeries). Style itself is not copyrightable (only specific works).

Claim: "AI reproduces watermarks/logos"

Reality:  Early models sometimes did; modern ones (2025) filter or blur these via safety layers.

 

Claim: "AI reproduces watermarks/logos"

 

Reality:  Early models sometimes did; modern ones (2025) filter or blur these via safety layers.
 

Claim: "Artists lose income"

Reality: Some report reduced commissions, but causation is unproven—market shifts (e.g., stock photo decline) predate AI. 

Loss of commissions will probably only happen to highly sought-after artists, and even then, the numbers are so marginal that it can’t even be proven. Yet the ones whining the loudest are the ones no one has even heard of. “The mommies' special artists.” 

Yes, I am a bit salty as I write this because of the entitled little whiner that decided they were the “Art god” descending from on high. And I know that there are others out there on both sides that REALLY need to hear this!

“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” And we are not all the same. So if you’re not really into what someone else calls art, you don’t have to, but nor should you just attack and crap over what they like.

AI will become more and more involved, whether we want it to or not. Some good, some bad. But remember, life is always changing, and IF you want a say in how it changes, learn to discuss. Not howl and rant like a rabid chimpanzee spouting off what you have heard from other howling chimpanzees. There are a few things AI is being put into that I don’t agree with, and I am looking into what might be done. As I would suggest you all do for whatever you feel needs to be addressed.

On that note, I will leave you, my readers, with one word, and I hope you all take it to heart.

DISCUSS.

Nydia 

*Editors Note*: If there are enough comments, they may be in another article. 

 

News and Commentary: Political Opposition Against Trump HQ Continues

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last week, I wrote more about the "Trump Wall" erected towering over the Sanders HQ by Trump supporters, in what the head of the Trump HQ JP Laszlo called a prank. Since then, there's been more written about the drama between the two groups of supporters, and the Trump HQ. The "Washington Liberals" blog  posted about the wall and people griefing the Sanders HQ, as did Motherboard. One picture posted by Washington Liberals which has been reprinted in several other articles, including a New World Notes article by Hamlet Au last week, shows "demons," which are among the "vampire" avatars available to newcomers to Second Life on day one, described as harassing people there with "Trump! Trump!" spam.

Jeff Grubb of "Venture Beat" was also curious and went inworld to check out the Trump HQ, "Second Life is still weird. The 2016 United States Presidential election is weird, but the Internet is doing its best to prove it can always get stranger." Comparing the people he met in the place to 4chan users, "... it's not offensive when it's sad. ... They think they are so brash, and they are if you take them at face value. But mostly, they just seem lonely. You can laugh at that. I certainly did. But that wears off quickly....You can tell all anyone in the Trump HQ wants is to offend people. I have that desire as well, but it’s something that I’ve tried to outgrow." Despite being briefly banned after a joke, that had nothing to with politics, taken the wrong way, he stated that overall he was seen as okay as long as the subject of politics didn't come up. But when on to say when he took people to task over certain issues, the mood turned defensive, "Predictably, the Trump fans went with their well-worn defense mechanism: 'Every example of racism is a joke or a liberal troll trying to make Trump look bad.'"

Another issue that's come up is the use of a flax mixing the Nazi swastika with the Trump name, which Sanders HQ owner Macaria Wind snapped a picture of, "There is a picture I managed to capture of one of the flags spewing from a particle dispenser at HQ," she told Hamlet Au, "Left there by one of Trump's supporters when no one was around." JP Lazlo has previously admitted such trolling takes place, but "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie." There's also that the Nazi flag is universally reviled by liberals and conservatives alike, appealing only to a tiny few reactionaries who dismiss both of them. Since the individuals displaying such banners are unnamed, it's less than clear whether it's by some extremist acting out for reasons of politics, or by a troll who just wants to cause trouble.

For some however, they have seen enough and feel it's time for Linden Lab to take action. This week, Hamlet Au wrote a commentary stating that Linden Lab needs to shut down the Trump HQ for repeated violations of Second Life's community standards. Hamlet made a comparison to the Confederate flag controversy last year (of which I had a differing opinion than his). But Linden Lab didn't ban the flag from the virtual world, just quietly remove it from the Marketplace some time since he and I wrote about the issue (NWN article), though stores were sill free to sell it inworld. Banning the Trump HQ and it's group like it did the Woodbury group which had become infamous for being a griefer hangout (especially among my furry friends) years ago, would be difficult for Linden Lab to pull off without looking like it was taking sides in politics, and could risk alienating it's more conservative members, even those who have problems with the brash candidate. Hamlet's argument that these are not supporters of a political candidate but trolls using politics as an excuse to grief can easily get lost in the passions of an election campaign, particularly those of recent years in which people whom once saw supporters of the other party as simply having a difference of opinion are increasingly questioning their judgement, ethics, sanity, and intentions.

With Trump's remaining opponents for the Republican nomination dropping out last night and today following the results of the Indiana primary, the candidate's victory there is simply a formality. Sander's victory there over Clinton is a needed morale boost to the "Berners," and a reminder to the Democrats' own establishment they intend to take the race all the way to the last state. So it's likely for a few more weeks the tension between the political groups in Second Life will continue. But with the Democratic front-runner having such a huge lead in pledged and unpledged delegates combined, the best he can reasonably hope for is a brokered convention. Most likely the nomination will go to Clinton. As she has failed to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm Sanders has, it's possible rather than change the names of their locations from Sanders to Clinton, Second Life's "Berners" at the Sanders HQ and the new "Feel the Bern" hangout in the Young sim may simply take down their political banners and devote their Second Lives to other activities. And deprived of a target, both the Trump group and the trolls acting in the candidates name could get bored and lose interest. Which is probably what Linden Lab is hoping for. But if the Sanders HQ and "Feel the Bern"can be convinced to get behind the establishment Democrat, it's going to be "interesting times" in Second Life for those with a taste in politics, and a headache for the Lab which no doubt wanted people to pay attention to the virtual world for reasons other than "cyber noogie," but not like this.

Sources: Washington Liberals, Motherboard, VentureBeat, New World Notes, CNN 

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More on The Trump Wall

By Bixyl Shuftan

While many come to Second Life to escape debates of issues in real life, others see it as a method of discussing them. Of the latter, different people react differently to opposing points of view. Some respectfully disagree and concentrate on getting their own message across. Others try to engage in debate. But sometimes different people have different ideas about what the rules of such debates should be.

Eight years ago in 2008, interest in US politics grew as an incumbent President was in his last year of office, and both parties fielded candidates about who would take his place. During the primaries, several headquarters were set up by supporters. Eventually, three centers of political debate arose: the GOP Cafe for conservatives, Cafe Wellstone for the liberals, and Capitol Hill as an officially neutral location. Between the first two, and other political themed locations, there were close-minded individuals who showed up just to vent and demonize, as well as outright griefers, and more or less levelheaded individuals whom more more interested in dialogue. But for the most part, they left each other alone. The most active night politically that year was of course Election Night 2008.

Eight years later, it's a much different kind of Presidential Election as one candidate has succeeded while breaking so many unwritten rules. And in Second Life, there is no longer an mutual agreement for the two sides to leave each other alone, at least the two most vocal camps of the political supporters.

In late March 2016, JP Laszlo, a supporter of candidate Donald Trump built the "Trump Manor." Intended as both a private residence for her and a few friends as well as showing off her support for the Republican outsider politician, she found the place the subject of no shortage of attention, getting the attention of media from within and outside Second Life, including the Newser. However, it also got the attention of griefers, leading her to install a security system that limited access, and caused a little confusion. About the same time, Macaria Wind built the "Bernie Sanders Second Life Headquarters" to help inform others about the outsider candidate for the Democrats. Although griefers were a problem as well, her reaction was to boot them when she came across them, but keep the place open.

In response to the attention, JP Laszlo with the help of friends built the Trump HQ, Here, anyone could walk in and talk. JP and her group reserved the right to ban those they saw as griefers, but when I talked to her did say they managed to win some over to their side.  But this wasn't all that happened. Others in her group bought up some land next to the Sanders HQ, and erected a huge wall that towered over it. As one of Trump's repeated promises is to build a border wall between the US and Mexico, one couldn't help but make a comparison. But the wall was more like a tower as people could easily fly or teleport around it. Plastered with US flags and campaign signs, the top had a picture that taunted Macaria Wind and her supporters, "We have twenty times more traffic! I keep winning! You can't stump the Trump!"

When I invited her to talk about the wall, Macaria stated she was busy, but did sent me a notecard.She had this to say about the structure:

As for the Trump Wall, there is not much to say. It is on a rented parcel and was apparently set up to serve as an annoyance to me and other Bernie supporters. One of my group members said when he clicked on the sign on the wall to go to Trump HQ, it tried to take over his av - he suggested it wanted to install a virus. Several Bernie group members have been to Trump's HQ and reported hearing racial slurs, vulgar language and, in general, hate speech. Several Trump supporters have griefed us here at HQ while others have come just to check it out and still others have visited and had intelligent conversations with our group members. So, it does, indeed, take all kinds...

While I aspire to an attitude of compassion and kindness, I also say "to each his own". I believe in karma, what goes around comes around and we reap what we sow. Though it is absolutely, without doubt, essential to be aware of the evil around us, I believe it is not helpful to focus on it, therefore, I treat the wall the same way I treat Trump's campaign - I mostly ignore it. 


The claim that the wall can spread viruses is false. The only method in which Second Life users have caught malware through their viewers is the media stream. JP Laszlo, whom now has the display name "JP Trump," explained it was a way to teleport oneself to the Trump HQ, "It's an experience request, for an experience based scripted teleport: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlTeleportAgent . Standard Second Life stuff."

JP and I talked on a couple occasions, once at the Trump Headquarters, and once after I spotted her hovering near the top of the Trump Wall. At the HQ, "she" spoke in Voice, revealing "herself" as male behind the computer, now sporting a furred female look rather than the anime girl she had earlier, with a "big smiley face" armband. The place had quite a crowd, some speaking in voice, some in chat. The place was more of a hangout than a location where one could get information, though there was a media stream with one of his speeches and freebie hats. There were a number of pictures around, and a few props of gaming culture such as a Nintendo controller seat and a Pac-Man barbecue, JP saying just because (s)he and his/her friends were gamers was no reason not to take them seriously.

While I was there, there was no "racist" language or "hate speech," but a polite debate on the merits of the Sanders campaign and someone suggesting the two candidates, both of whom are considered outsiders, should cooperate. The closest thing to a griefing was some wag over Voice propositioning JP to a "yiff," which (s)he politely turned down.

Of the Trump Wall, (s)he stated it was done all in the name of fun, "It's friendly banter you understand nothing serious. But Mac doesn't seem to have a sense of humor about it. She's banned me even though I've never even been to her land other than to stand there. ... We see this as a bit of fun, the wall I mean. They should lighten up and put some banter up themselves. We try to have a sense of humor."

In Voice, JP did mention something about someone else nearby trying pulling off a joke at their expense, though didn't seem to think too much of it. When I later looked, among the Trump HQ's neighbors was a plot that looked like a crude metal shelter cobbled together from a post-apocalyptic ruin, with signs proclaiming "Hadet for President." Who Hadet is, I don't know.

As it turns out, I've seen for myself Trump supporters at the Sanders HQ. One was simply flying around holding a banner, getting a little close to people. The other, whom went around holding a sign over his head, ranted about "stopping this cuckery." When I brought up the subject with JP, (s)he acknowledged there was a problem, but with both sides, "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie. And believe me we've had lots."

Talking more with JP, (s)he stated no dislike for the Sanders campaign, saying there was much about the platform to be liked, "I'd love to be friends and have debates.  But they have other ideas, which is fine. Saddening but fine. ... We are not griefers. We are not trolls, just political activists with a sense of humor and fun. If (the) Sanders (supporters) bought a place across from me, I'd be delighted to engage in some back and forth with them." JP stated there should be a parcel opening up in Lionheart Ahadi near her soon, inviting Macwind or some other Democrat supporter to take it.

So it seems there's no animosity among JP's pro-Trump group towards MacWind's Sanders supporters, but rather a disagreement between the two groups about what the "rules of engagement" between the two should be. It could be reasoned the former feels they're doing the latter a favor by attracting attention to both places and groups. The Democrats would beg to differ, though. With the griefers, hitting the Sanders HQ, apparently they have trouble telling the difference between the two, possibly if they should try. MarcWind's use of the term "evil" does not bode well for the opinion of she and her friends towards the Trump supporters. Part of the divide may also be an age difference, MarcWind being an "An old hippie wanna-be/pseudo geek," and JP a gamer from a younger generation. Different generations can have very different experiences politics-wise while growing up. For the 1960s, the big issue was civil rights and Vietnam. For the 1980s, it was the Cold War. And for the 1990s, it was the "little blue dress."

For now, the Sanders group seems to be trying to ignore the Trump Wall, still within sight at their headquarters in Caspoli (45/37/46). What happens next will no doubt partially depend on how the election in real life goes. While Trump will most likely get the Republican nomination, there are whispers that the "establishment" will try and find a way to stop him, even if it costs the party the election. Sanders is currently a close number two  in pledged delegates for the Democrats, but a huge majority of the unpledged delegates support his opponent. The Trump and Sanders groups could be increasingly worried less about each other, and more about the campaigns they support.

Bixyl Shuftan

What Happened to 7Seas' Meissa Thorne?

In late May, 7Seas threw it's twice a year "Fishiversary," and their builders and other staff were there to celebrate along with the fishers. But one of the team was not there: Meissa Thorne. The lady whom had once contributed much to the fishing game beloved by many Second Life residents, such as SL Newser reporter Gemma Cleanslate, was gone from the Grid. Her profile page was blank, save for the name and rezz date. There was only an occasional texture at various Fishiversary exhibits to remind people of her.

The Newser came across a rumor that she had some trouble with the IRS and Linden Lab had been pressured by them to ban her. I decided to check things out with the 7Seas team to get the story about what really happened. I got in contact with Jen Shikami, and she was willing to explain what happened.

As it turned out, Meissa had no trouble with the IRS, "she wasn't having any problems, Jen explained, "we all pay taxes on our SL money nice and legal-like. Instead, this is actually about LL's new identification policy. So it was in February that they started asking for her ID and SSN." She had provided them the information before, but through a third party, Aristotle Systems, "In this case they wanted her to actually send all this info, including a copy of her driver's license, in their helpdesk ticket system, which... well, in terms of privacy, it's reasonable for her to have concerns about whether it will remain secure. She would have been fine with sending the information if it were through some system she'd considered sufficiently trustworthy. But considering how many months we've seen it take for LL to address basic system-wide security issues in the past, I can see why she'd have some concerns."

"The other weird thing is that as you see in that FAQ, they're saying U.S. law requires this 'for users that submit a certain volume and/or amount of Process Credit requests in a year.' But this was February, and the policy was just announced a few months prior. In the prior version of this FAQ they specifically cited the Patriot Act and the IRS limits, but her process credit requests weren't near either of those limits. Odd. So between asking for clarification on that point and asking if there's some more secure way to send this information, perhaps through a third party like Aristotle last time... all we got back was boilerplate responses and repeated links to the same FAQ."  

Meissa offered a third option for the Lab if they were so concerned about legal details, "She also tried requesting to simply never transact $L again, but they wouldn't accept that either. ... Our concern was that if they deleted her account, it could cripple 7Seas, since she created so many of our objects and servers. We've worked around that, but at the time that was a real concern. Plus, honestly, why should she have to go? Why not just stop transacting if that's their real concern? The thing is, they're blaming this on U.S. law, but this doesn't appear to be consistent with U.S. law. If they just said 'This is LL's new policy, because we said so,' then actually that would be well within their rights. I mean, I wouldn't agree, but it's within their rights. But blaming it on apparently inapplicable U.S. laws seems like a cop-out. And sure, maybe I'm misinterpreting them... I'm not a lawyer... but it's not like we got any other explanations either."

With Linden Lab refusing to bend, they began to prepare for her exit, "Well, my last-ditch effort was to talk to the concierge. Though usually they only allow account transfers when the other person is dead and names you as controlling their estate, they have done account transfers before without any fatalities, apparently. So I was trying to gain ownership of her account, since I was already ID-verified, and it's for my business anyway," Jen is the main IP holder fot 7Seas, "But they wouldn't do that either. I decided not to bother lawyering up."

Meissa herself helped her friends prepare for her leaving, "To work around it, she very generously spent the last couple weeks of her existence there transferring as many objects as possible to me. Seven reviewed our code and it'll all work for now as long as her server is still rezzed. If we have to later, we can replace it by cobbling together the parts and contents from my inventory. All the objects she had legal right to transfer, of course. There are builders kits that don't allow that, but I just bought most of those if they seemed relevant. So now I'm just paying her her cut using real life U.S. dollars. It's more like royalties really, I suppose. As thanks for her prior role."

I brought up the "credit requests" again. Jen told me, "She was just withdrawing every couple weeks. The original info LL sent out listed some dollar or quantity threshholds and she was nowhere near them. Not that she was the only one affected -- sounds like lots of people got the same request. Like I said, it's within their rights even without claiming it's required by U.S. law. Not about to deny that. But it is a great example of poor customer service. Giving someone a deadline and then not responding to questions about it, or responding only with irrelevant boilerplate.... that doesn't help. And why not tell people 'To continue conducting transactions in SL, you must ID verify'? Why threaten deletion?  Because I'm real sure that nowhere in the Patriot Act does it say 'Delete people's accounts.' If this is related to some law, they should be able to actually explain that in a way that helps their customers believe this is both truly necessary as well as truly secure. If they can't reassure people of both those things, they aren't going to get positive responses."

Was there any chance of Meissa getting her old account back? Jen felt there wasn't one, "Not unless she forks over ID, and their handling of this whole thing has not made that increasingly likely. We support her right to draw a line there. for sure. And now I'm seriously wondering if it was a mistake to give them my own ID. I mean, think about this -- I do eBay auctions. I send money through PayPal. I sell through Amazon.com. None of them have required me to send them plaintext SSN or a copy of my ID. Which you'd think would happen if this were truly some universal constant of U.S. law -- see what I'm saying? So really, I just have to raise an eyebrow. Of course LL says they keep that very secure and so on. But they are ultimately asking for a leap of faith in response to answers that didn't feel like answers."

A case of "We're Linden Lab, trust us?" I asked. Jen answered, "We only got the 'trust us' response when I managed to get a sympathetic person on the phone. e's the one who said it should be possible to get the account transferred. It's certainly allowable within the ToS since it says you can do it with written permission from LL. o I requested that permission, explained why, pointed out that we have over 100,000 fishers who might miss 7Seas if this really ruined things. And... no. Not even an extension. So there was very little time between when we realized they weren't giving substantive answers, and the end there."

"Considering the number of people who use 7Seas," I suggested, one would think they'd be more willing to negotiate." Jen answered, "I really didn't want to play the 'Do you know who we are?!' card. Because that's kind of unreasonable, and like I said, it's within their rights to require this of their own volition. But I did want to make sure they understood what this could potentially mean. And that it's not just because she's somehow being too stubborn. Privacy concerns and identity security concerns are totally reasonable, and with this online customer base, they need to be very aware of that. We're pretty open about our RL identities and filing taxes and so on, but I'm sure there are plenty in SL who wouldn't even be comfortable with that. Remember the fuss about age verification? Ultimately, many of the people who agreed to do it only did so because it was through a third party with a reputation for strong information security. That's a totally different scenario than 'Just email us this.'"

"Anyway, that's the scoop on what really happened." Jen told me, "Sure, she could have just said yes and it would've been more convenient for everyone, but I think she actually did the right thing. If they want creators to feel welcome in SL, you can't just give them form-letter threats of account deletion without some clear explanations and rationale beyond 'uh U.S. law do it or else.' I am sure this is all LL's lawyers telling them to handle this in a certain way for risk management reasons. But it's remarkably inflexible. And clearly the folks who knew they'd have to use a third-party like Aristotle for identity verification before... those folks must be gone now. There's so much turnover at LL... that doesn't help assurances of 'Oh we keep this very secure.'"

"I remember when I went to SLCC and half the Lindens I met there had just been fired," Jen talked about her trip in 2010, "It was all terribly awkward, since they already had plane tickets and hotel rooms."

"As for 7Seas... (Meissa) has been our most active team builder for the past few years. Motherhood has cut into my free time, plus my RL job and so on. But I want to be sure the community doesn't feel abandoned, so I have some new plans for what to work on for them next (smile). ... Meanwhile I'm training Sass and some of my builder friends... maybe we'll have more help again soon. Lots of folks have offered but really, I like to work with people I know in RL. More accountability that way."

It was about this time the interview ended, and we went our seperate ways, though before parting, she handed me one of the cardboard cutouts of Meissa. One way of saying she might be gone, but not forgotten.

Bixyl Shuftan