Design Without Designers? The IP Battle Over AI-Generated Works
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 15, 2025
- 1 min read
Krishnadevan P, Amity Law School
Deepika Prakash, Amity Law School
ABSTRACT
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved from a computational tool to a player involved in the creative process in industries like fashion, automotive, architecture, film, and digital art. With the capacity to generate original designs independently using algorithms, machine learning, and generative neural networks, AI upends conventional notions of creativity, authorship, and intellectual property. This chapter discusses the growing phenomenon of AI-generated designs and critically examines the adequacy of existing intellectual property legislation, in particular under the Indian Designs Act, in protecting such works.
It provokes fundamental questions: Can a designer be legally recognized who is AI? To whom do the rights of a design belong that was created independently by a machine? Is not such work protected due to the absence of human authorship, or should legal principles be reformulated in order to accommodate non-human creativity?
The chapter addresses these questions using an inter-disciplinary approach, blending legal theory, technical critique, and empirical case studies in fashion design, industrial product development, spacecraft, and digital media. It also compares Indian legal provisions with foreign systems, e.g., the U.S., EU, and U.K., where discussions on AI inventorship and design protection are heating up.
Finally, the chapter has an argument that current intellectual property structures are not adequate to deal with the unique problems arising from AI- generated works. Lack of a clear legal stance would make creators, innovators, and industries continue to be uncertain about ownership, infringement, and enforcement. The chapter concludes with proposed policy changes and accommodative readings of the law that value the dynamic nature of creativity in the era of artificial intelligence.
