Artificial Intelligence And The Labour Theory Of Copyright In India: Emerging Challenges
- IJLLR Journal
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Pushap Deep, Junior Research Fellow, Department of Laws, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill, Shimla, 171005
Dr. Geetika Sood, Assistant Professor, Department of Laws, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill, Shimla, 171005
ABSTRACT
Modern copyright systems face significant doctrinal and policy issues as a result of Artificial Intelligence's (AI) explosive growth as an independent creative agent. The labor-desert argument, which is based on human intellectual effort, natural rights, and the ethical worth of creative labor, continues to support judicial reasoning on authorship and originality in India, where this tension is particularly evident. Indian copyright law has historically based protection on verifiable human talent, effort, and discernment. However, the traditional, human-centric understanding of authorship that the Copyright Act, 1957 assumes is undermined by the development of generative AI systems that may independently produce literary, artistic, musical, and digital creations. AI-generated outputs blur the line between human-aided and machine-autonomous creativity, confuse authorship identification, and challenge accepted originality standards. These developments illustrate the lack of a coherent judicial interpretation of AI-generated works and reveal statutory uncertainties, especially in Section 2(d)(vi). Furthermore, regulatory ambiguity is exacerbated by the contradiction between Indian legal doctrine and rapidly changing international norms. Important international jurisdictions are placing more emphasis on human authorship, while policy discussions show different perspectives on how to acknowledge AI-generated originality. The compatibility of current copyright doctrine with algorithmic creativity is analysed in this work, which explores these normative and jurisprudential conflicts. It examines unanswered problems about training datasets and derivative use, critically evaluates new foreign models, and assesses India's readiness to deal with these technological upheavals. The research comes to the conclusion that in order to keep Indian copyright law in line with changing technological realities while maintaining its fundamental human- centered principles, calibrated legislative reform—clarifying authorship, originality requirements, and liability is essential.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Labour Theory of Copyright; Generative Creativity; Indian Copyright Law; Authorship Doctrine.
