Authorship And Inventorship Revisited: AI-Generated Works Under Indian And International Intellectual Property Regimes
- IJLLR Journal
- Nov 30, 2025
- 2 min read
Shwetapriya, Amity Law School, Amity University
Introduction
The advancement of artificial intelligence has fundamentally revolutionized content creation and innovation across numerous sectors, thereby necessitating a critical re-evaluation of established intellectual property law. Generative AI systems are now capable of producing complex outputs, including literary works, artistic creations, and technological inventions, which blur the traditional lines of creative and inventive input. The core challenge presented to existing IP regimes is whether these legal structures, designed for human creators, can accommodate output generated partially or entirely by non-human machines. The IP world now faces the fundamental question of who (or what) is the author or inventor of a work of art or technology when a machine performs the core creative or inventive steps.
To navigate the IP landscape effectively, a clear differentiation between the two categories of AI involvement was established. AI-generated works are those created entirely by machines or through random processes, crucially lacking any significant human intervention or decision-making. The global consensus holds that these works are generally ineligible for copyright or patent protection because they do not stem from human authorship. Conversely, AI-assisted works utilize AI tools to enhance the creative or inventive process, but the final output reflects substantial human creativity, control, and intellectual direction.1 For such works to secure IP protection, human contributions must meet the originality threshold and demonstrate a recognizable level of conceptual contribution, oversight, or creative input. This distinction forms the core interpretive challenge confronting policymakers and courts globally.
This report’s focus was primarily fixed upon a comparative analysis across two key intellectual property domains: Copyright (addressing Authorship) and Patents (addressing Inventorship). The statutory regimes of India (The Copyright Act, 1957, and The Patents Act, 1970) were benchmarked against major international jurisdictions, specifically the United States, the European Union, and the policy discussions convened by WIPO. The analysis integrated a comprehensive review of statutory provisions, key case law from the last five years (2020- 2025), and global policy trends to identify the persistent legal uncertainties and structural deficiencies within the existing framework.
