Description
California's AB 412 is being promoted as a way to bring more transparency to AI training and give creators more insight into how their work is being used. Supporters, including SAG-AFTRA, argue it's a necessary step toward protecting artists from "theft" of their works by generative AI.
Of course, it won't do that. It'll entrench Big Tech instead. Surprise.
The bill's requirements are impossible to meet, especially for independent developers and open-source AI projects. Copyright isn't an organized digital database of who owns what.
In fact, as we've seen in other cases such as Bartz v. Anthropic, discovering who owns what works is a messy and thorny problem even with a limited list of plaintiffs.
But the largest tech companies have the resources to absorb the added legal and compliance costs. It'll be the small, independent developers and open source projects that will be stifled if noth destroyed.
In this video, I break down what AB 412 actually says, why SAG supports it, why the EFF opposes it, and whether the bill could end up strengthening the very companies it's meant to regulate.
Unintended consequences for the lose!
Bill Text: CA AB412 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced | LegiScan https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB412/id/3100490
California's AB 412 Still Demands Developers Do The Impossible https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/californias-ab-412-still-demands-developers-do-impossible
Brandon Butler on X https://x.com/bc_butler/status/2069808372107624601
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
💬Bᴏɢᴏsɪᴛʏ Dɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ: https://discord.bogosity.tv/
💬Lᴏʀᴅ Kɪʟʟɪᴀɴ’ꜱ Dɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ: http://bit.ly/LK-Discord
▶️YᴏᴜTᴜʙᴇ: https://www.youtube.com/shanedk
▶️Oᴅʏsᴇᴇ: https://odysee.com/%24/invite/@shanedk:4
▶️Rᴜᴍʙʟᴇ https://rumble.com/c/shanedk
💬Dɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ: http://bit.ly/LK-Discord
💰Dᴏɴᴀᴛᴇ ᴏʀ ꜱᴜʙꜱᴄʀɪʙᴇ: https://donate.bogosity.tv
0:00 - Intro
0:43 - What Is California's AB 412?
3:55 - The Impossible Problems of AB 412
5:38 - This Will Entrench Big Tech and Harm Small Developers
6:25 - There Are Already Remedies in Federal Court
7:15 - As Regulation Always Does, the Bill Solves Nothing and Imposes an Impossible and Costly Burden
7:51 - Brandon Butler: Why Are Actors Promoting It?
10:16 - Remember this: Creators Are NOT the Same as Copyright Holders!
11:35 - Actors Get Nothing at All from This Bill
12:15 - State Copyright Actions Are Preempted by Federal Law