As AI transforms how creative works are produced, distributed and monetized, a question keeps arising: Who’s in control?
Creators and lawyers took centerstage to discuss the issue at Copyforward: AI, IP, and the Fight for Creative Control, a symposium co-presented by the USC Gould School of Law Center for Sports, Entertainment, Media & Technology Law (SEMT), Mozilla Foundation and USC’s AI for Media & Storytelling as part of the 2026 Flux Festival.
Held at Blum Gallery in Los Angeles, Copyforward brought together an unusually broad coalition of stakeholders — including artists, labor leaders, entertainment attorneys, legal scholars and tech entrepreneurs — to examine how generative AI is reshaping the creative industries and the laws that govern them. In contrast to a typical legal event, the festival highlighted creative works and featured creators discussing the issues they face on a day-to-day basis, who were then joined by the legal panelists to engage in discussions about those areas.
The event reflected USC Gould’s growing engagement at the intersection of law, entertainment and emerging technology. Co-curated by Jeffrey Schneider, executive director of SEMT, the symposium explored some of the most pressing questions facing Hollywood and the broader creative economy: Who owns AI-generated work? How should creators be compensated when their work is used to train AI models? What role should artists and labor organizations play in shaping the technology’s future?
“Copyforward was designed to bring together the people who are building, regulating, protecting and creating with these technologies,” Schneider said. “The goal was to create a space where legal, artistic and technological perspectives could inform one another.”
Cross-Discipline Cooperation
The symposium opened with calls for collaboration across disciplines. Ziyad Bhorat, vice president of imagination and strategic growth at the Mozilla Foundation, described the event as an effort to bring artists and lawyers together at a pivotal moment for creative industries. Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, emphasized the importance of keeping artists and humanists at the center of technological change, drawing parallels to Hollywood’s transition to digital filmmaking. “When I hear somebody say, ‘I’m just not going to use it,’ I’m going to go, ‘Well, then it’s going to use you,’” Daily said.
Among the featured speakers was Douglas Emhoff, USC Gould Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, who moderated a gameshow-style panel, “Hollywood vs. AI.” Other sessions explored whether existing intellectual property laws are equipped to address AI-generated content, how artists can maintain agency, and what new legal frameworks may be needed as technology evolves.
Other legal experts included Victoria Schwartz, director of Pepperdine Caruso School of Law’s Entertainment Media and Sports Law Program, who moderated the panel “Hey, Has Anyone Actually Asked the Artists?” Madhavi Sunder, Georgetown University’s Frank Sherry Professor of Intellectual Property Law, spoke about legal protections for personal characteristics, including faces. On the same panel — “Where We Stand: Is IP Law Up to the Challenge of AI?” — copyright attorney and fair-use advocate Brandon Butler discussed copyright guardrails for Al and another copyright expert, Aaron Moss, examined changing infringement and liability rules.
The discussion extended beyond traditional legal analysis to include labor and industry perspectives, with panelists Jillian Arnold, president of IATSE Local 695 and chair of the union’s Artificial Intelligence Sub-Committee during the 2024 IATSE-AMPTP negotiations, and Danielle Van Lier, a former senior assistant general counsel at SAG-AFTRA, who specializes in AI and intellectual property issues.
Technology innovators and entrepreneurs also played a prominent role in the conversation. Panelists included Archie Davis, co-founder and CEO of AXM Global, who spoke on creation, attribution and ownership; Brian Cabrera, former general counsel of NVIDIA; and Sid Mohasseb, venture capitalist and USC Marshall School of Business adjunct professor — who contributed perspectives on AI governance, investment and responsible innovation.
Creative Insights
Artists and creators offered firsthand perspectives on how AI tools are already changing creative practice — or perhaps not.
Filmmaker and creative technologist Tommy Pallotta, whose credits include Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly and Undone, spoke on fair use, creative transformation and commentary — drawing parallels between how artists have always built upon others’ work, and the use of AI to do the same. Both come down to consent, intent and trust, Pallotta said.
Artist and researcher Parag Mital, founder of Emergentic.ai, discussed his work on cultural automation with machine learning, while artist and entertainment executive Alex Valenti discussed AI tool integration in music marketing and data analysis, as well as new AI-related provisions in record deals.
The symposium was supported by Mozilla Foundation, whose ongoing work on “Hollywood’s 8 Rules for AI” has sought to ensure that creators maintain agency in the development and deployment of AI systems. Mozilla Fellow and music artist Jenny Toomey, an advocate for artists’ rights, joined discussions about how policy and governance can help balance innovation with creative protections.
Copyforward served as the opening event for the two-day Flux Festival, presented by the Mozilla Foundation, alongside AIMS (AI for Media & Storytelling), a collaboration between USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and USC Gould’s SEMT. The 2026 Flux Festival showcased experimental film, immersive media, sound works and interdisciplinary art. Together, the symposium and festival created a forum where the legal and ethical implications of AI could be examined alongside innovative art exhibitions and performances.
That combination made the event particularly timely. Courts, lawmakers, labor organizations and technology companies continue to wrestle with questions surrounding copyright infringement, training data, attribution and compensation. At the same time, creators are increasingly adopting AI tools while seeking assurances that their work and livelihoods will remain protected.
For USC Gould, Copyforward exemplified the mission of SEMT: fostering dialogue among the industries, institutions and professionals shaping the future of entertainment and technology. By convening experts from across disciplines, the symposium highlighted both the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence — and underscored the critical role law will play in determining how creativity is valued in the years ahead.
As AI continues to transform media and storytelling, the conversations taking place at Copyforward may help shape the frameworks that govern the next generation of creative work. Attendees gained access to an in-depth legal resource document and archive of the day’s conversations and artistic works — called “The Artifact.” For more information, contact SEMT.Center@law.usc.edu.
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