AI Meets IP: When Algorithms Swipe Right on Copyright

Image Source: Indianweb2.com

India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a highstakes stakeholder consultation this week, where tech giants and content creators battled over the future of copyright in the age of AI.

Key Implications of TwoDay Event:

Hosted on June 1920 by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the conference was attended by startups, big tech firms, digital publishers, and lawyers.
The main question: Do computer programmers who create AI own the right to utilize copyrighted works—books, articles, music, and photographs—to train their software without permission?

Diverging Perceptions

Tech firms contended that wholesale access to information is required for developing competitive AI models and cautioned that excessive regulation would smother innovation.
Content creators, like the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), replied that copying their content without permission or compensation is copyright infringement.
DNPA called for a regime that ensures fair remuneration and safeguards the rights of creators of digital content.

Policy Proposals on the Table:

DPIIT is mulling whether India's Copyright Act, 1957, requires a complete overhaul in a bid to tackle AIcreated content.

Choices involved an optout regime for text and data mining (TDM) and statutory licensing regime whereby AI firms pay a fee, set by the government, to access copyrighted material.

What's Next:

A ninemember DPIIT panel, headed by Additional Secretary Himani Pande, will soon publish a working paper detailing possible legal reforms.

Sources: Hindustan Times, Storyboard18, Free Press Journal, MSN India, Economic Times