Daily News Analysis ‘AI and Copyright’ : 10 December

Why in News?

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released a working paper proposing a new framework for the use of online content by Artificial Intelligence (AI) models and the payment of royalties to copyright holders.

The paper suggests that AI models should, by default, have access to freely available online content.
Publishers should not be given a direct opt-out option for such publicly available content.
This means AI developers would be legally allowed to scrape open web data.
The objective is to remove legal uncertainty around training AI models.

The paper proposes the creation of a copyright society like a non-profit body.
This body will collect royalties from AI developers.
Royalties will be paid to both members and non-members whose content is used.
The aim is to ensure that content creators are compensated for the use of their work.

Artificial Intelligence refers to computer systems capable of performing tasks requiring human intelligence such as learning, reasoning, and content creation.
Copyright is a legal right that protects original literary, artistic, musical and digital works from unauthorised use.
AI systems are now capable of generating text, images, music, videos, and software code.
This creates a new legal conflict between machine-generated content and human-centred copyright law.

Copyright in India is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957.
Protection is given only to original works created by human authors.
The law recognises authorship in literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, cinematographic and sound recording works.
Indian copyright law is based on the principle that creativity must originate from a natural person.

AI models are trained on large datasets that often include books, articles, images and music protected by copyright.
This raises the question of whether using copyrighted material for AI training amounts to copyright infringement.
Many AI developers rely on exceptions such as fair use or fair dealing.
Copyright owners argue that unauthorised data scraping harms their economic rights.

A major legal issue is who owns the copyright in content generated by AI systems.
Under Indian law, only human creators are recognised as authors, not machines.
If a human exercises substantial control over the AI output, that person may claim authorship.
Fully autonomous AI-generated content currently exists in a legal grey zone without clear ownership.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is examining the global impact of AI on intellectual property rights.
The European Union has proposed regulations requiring transparency on training data used by AI systems.
Courts in several countries have held that AI cannot be recognised as a legal author.
These developments influence India’s evolving approach to AI governance and copyright reform.

AI has improved efficiency in publishing, media, advertising, and software development.
At the same time, creators fear loss of income due to cheap AI-generated substitutes.
Small artists and authors face difficulty in enforcing their copyright against large AI companies.
The balance between innovation and protection of creative labour has become a major policy challenge.

Unauthorised use of protected works for AI training raises issues of fairness, consent, and economic justice.
Creators may lose control over how their intellectual property is reused and monetised.
This affects the Right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Ethical AI governance demands transparency, credit, and compensation for original creators.

India currently follows a technology-neutral copyright framework, without specific AI provisions.
There is a growing need for clear legal guidelines on AI training data and authorship of AI outputs.
India must balance digital innovation with protection of creative industries.
Legal reforms, stakeholder consultations, and alignment with global IP norms are essential for future readiness.