Artificial Intelligence And Authorshiop: Rethinking Of Intellectual Property Rights In The Age Of Autonomous Creativity
- IJLLR Journal
- Sep 2
- 2 min read
E. Muthamizh Selvan, B.A. LL.B., The Central Law College, Salem.
M. Nithya Sri, B.A.LL.B., The Central Law College, Salem.
ABSTRACT
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the boundaries of creativity and innovation. From generating art, literature, and music to designing inventions, AI systems now produce works that challenge the foundations of intellectual property rights (IPR). Existing laws, however, are built on the assumption of human authorship and inventorship, leaving a significant gap in protecting and regulating AI-generated creations. This gap creates uncertainty regarding ownership, accountability, and enforcement across jurisdictions. Copyright and patent laws exemplify this deficiency. The Indian Copyright Act, 1957, while mentioning computer-generated works, provides no clarity on autonomous AI outputs. Similarly, the Patents Act, 1970, restricts inventorship to humans, excluding AI driven inventions. Globally, courts and policymakers have adopted inconsistent approaches: U.S. authorities deny copyright to AI-generated works, the United Kingdom partially recognizes computer-generated works, and the European Union continues deliberations without decisive reforms. This fragmented framework hinders legal certainty and the international harmonizations.
This paper employs doctrinal and comparative analysis to examine the shortcomings of current IPR regimes in addressing AI authorship. It also considers ethical and policy concerns, including incentive structures, accountability for infringement and the balance between human and machine creativity.
To fill these gaps, the study evaluates three models:
A human-centric approach, vesting rights in programmers or users;
Sui generis protection for AI generated works;
A public domain approach.
The paper proposes a hybrid solution for India that combines the Human Attribution principle with a limited sui generis right, ensuring accountability while recognizing the value AI generated outputs. This research contributes to the urgent global discourse on adapting IPR to technological change, arguing that proactive legal reforms is essential to foster innovation while safeguarding human creativity.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Authorship, Intellectual Property Rights, Sui Generis Protection, Human Attribution Principle.
