Florida Businesses and the TRAIN Act: Why a New AI Copyright Bill Matters

The Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks Act (TRAIN Act) (S. 2455) was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The TRAIN Act would insert a new section 514 into Title 17 that creates a federal court-supervised administrative subpoena that lets a copyright owner learn exactly which of the owner’s works were used to train a generative-AI model. Any developer, which is defined broadly to include a company or a state or local agency that designs, owns, substantially modifies, or supervises training, must turn over copies of, or records that “identify with certainty,” the owner’s material once a subpoena is served. The clerk of a United States district court issues the subpoena as a matter of form when the requester files a sworn declaration asserting a good-faith belief that its works were included. Confidentiality obligations prevent the requester from sharing the records beyond copyright-protection purposes.

Why Florida companies should pay attention

Large language-model developers are not the only parties captured by the bill. A Tampa software start-up that fine-tunes an open-source model for clients, a Jacksonville marketing agency that retrains a model on consumer-generated images, and an Orlando hospitality chain that builds an internal chatbot using a curated dataset could all qualify as “developers.” Each would have to preserve records of training material and be ready to disclose them in response to a subpoena. Failing to produce responsive data could expose the business to contempt sanctions under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Florida’s creative economy is also sizable. Publishers, game studios, and design firms headquartered here gain a practical tool for verifying whether their catalogs sit inside someone else’s training set. Expect more right-holders to audit AI platforms once the process is as simple as filing standardized paperwork with a clerk in federal courts within Florida.

Operational impacts

A business that builds or substantially modifies an AI model will need an auditable chain of custody for every item of training material. That means documenting data-source URLs, licenses, and curation dates, then retaining logs long enough to respond to future subpoenas. Contracts with external data curators or cloud vendors should now address cooperation duties, cost allocation, and confidentiality if a subpoena arrives. Insurers writing cyber and media liability policies may begin asking whether these safeguards exist before binding coverage.

On the other side of the ledger, Florida content owners contemplating litigation over unlicensed training can use the TRAIN Act to confirm infringement before filing a full-blown lawsuit. Knowing precisely which works appear in a model’s dataset will shape both damage calculations and settlement leverage.

Next steps for compliance

While this legislation has just been introduced and has not passed, compliance professionals can proactively assess the potential impact of its passage on business operations and systems. Proactively, next steps to consider include:

1. Map any generative-AI project that your company designs, owns, or fine-tunes, noting who controls the training pipeline.

2. Create or update a data-inventory log that links each training item to its license or public-domain status.

3. Add a subpoena-response clause to service agreements with outside developers and data brokers.

4. Review insurance policies to determine whether subpoena costs and potential copyright claims are covered.

5. Monitor the bill’s progress in the Senate Judiciary Committee and be prepared to adapt record-retention practices if the language changes.

Key takeaway

The TRAIN Act signals bipartisan interest in making AI training sets transparent through a streamlined judicial process. Whether your Florida company builds generative models or supplies copyrighted content, the legislation would reshape recordkeeping, contractual risk, and litigation strategy. Taking inventory of training data and tightening documentation now will put your business on the right track if Congress moves the bill forward.