Where is the Author?

The Copyright Protection for AI-Generated Works

Chieh Huang
Maurer School of Law - Indiana University, chihuan@iu.edu

The authors argue that the traditional definition of authorship, which requires human creativity and
originality, is no longer adequate in the age of AI. They identify three key challenges to copyright
protection for AI-generated works:

• The difficulty of identifying the author: AI systems are often trained on large datasets of human-
created works, and it can be difficult to determine which human contributed to the creation of a
particular AI-generated work.
• The lack of human control over AI systems: Once an AI system is trained, it can generate new
works without any further input from humans. This raises questions about whether humans can
be considered the authors of AI-generated works.
• The potential for AI systems to infringe on copyright: AI systems can be used to create works
that are substantially similar to existing copyrighted works. This raises questions about whether
AI systems should be held liable for copyright infringement.

The authors propose a number of solutions to these challenges, including:

• Recognizing AI systems as joint authors: The authors argue that AI systems should be recognized
as joint authors of AI-generated works, along with the humans who created and trained the AI
systems.
• Developing new copyright doctrines: The authors argue that new copyright doctrines are
needed to address the unique challenges posed by AI-generated works. For example, they
propose a new doctrine of "derivative authorship" that would allow humans to claim copyright
in AI-generated works that are based on their own copyrighted works.
• Encouraging the development of ethical AI practices: The authors argue that it is important to
develop ethical AI practices that promote transparency and accountability in the creation and
use of AI-generated works.

The authors conclude that copyright law is not well-suited to protect AI-generated works under the
current legal framework. They argue that new laws and regulations are needed to address the unique
challenges posed by AI-generated works.

Citation :

Huang, Chieh, "Where is the Author: the Copyright Protection for AI-Generated Works" (2022). Maurer

Theses and Dissertations. 107.

https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/etd/107