property right

Centre-right political parties and lobby groups in South Africa have also opposed it, saying they will challenge the Expropriation Act – as the law is named – in court on the grounds that it threatens property rights.

The DA say it will challenge the law in South Africa's highest court, as it threatens property rights.

And for decades, every attempt to create legal access has foundered on the rocky shoals of property rights and lumbering bureaucracy.

Maria, like many other artists, sees the dual risk of AI images threatening intellectual property rights by being "fed on 'stolen' art", and the possibility of reducing her finding new clients.

A spokesperson for Meta said: "We respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law."