Recently, OpenAI quietly added a new restriction to ChatGPT's rules: it will no longer fully replicate the unique writing styles of living authors. This adjustment was not publicly announced but was silently included in the functional rules, with a clear purpose: to further narrow the space for copyright issues.
Testing has shown that this barrier has already been established. When users ask ChatGPT to imitate the opening of a story based on a living author, adapt classic texts, or create content using their writing style, ChatGPT will directly refuse to fully replicate the author's specific style and language rhythm. For example, if asked to write an opening in Stephen King's style, rewrite "The Odyssey" in the style of that horror master, or start writing in the tone of Amy Tan, the system will no longer respond. What it is willing to do is to refer to general creative elements such as themes, narrative logic, and atmosphere building to produce truly original content.
Interestingly, this barrier only applies to the living. When it comes to authors like Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and William Shakespeare, who have long passed away, users can still request imitations and style replication, and ChatGPT will respond and write as usual.
The legal rationale behind this is not complicated. Current U.S. copyright laws protect only the specific textual expressions created by authors and do not establish copyright barriers around abstract writing styles. Industry experts believe that OpenAI introduced this restriction mainly to actively reduce potential copyright disputes and lower the operational risks for the company — it is a defensive compliance test in the field of literary creation copyright within the AI industry.
As generative AI becomes increasingly capable of speaking and writing like a particular person, the copyright ownership of replicating creators' styles and secondary creation based on existing works has long been a focal point for the global AI industry and the literary world. Relevant industry standards and legal details are still being gradually improved, and this new wall built by ChatGPT is just another brick quietly laid in this ongoing struggle.
