Who has rights to AI creations? Copyright protection of artificial intelligence creations
There is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has entered our daily lives. AI answers questions, writes essays, or creates images based on our guidelines. Mention can be made of popular AI-based tools capable of writing text (e.g. Chat GPT) images (e.g. Canva) or code (e.g. GitHub). For entrepreneurs, using the help of AI is often a way to get a result faster, which they would have to work on for a longer time, based on traditional methods.
The initial fascination with AI solely in the category of a technological novelty is passing, and due to its multiple applications, more and more questions are being raised about the legal regimes of its operation. This includes, in particular, from the perspective of copyright law. The discussion about who is entitled to copyright on content produced with AI is ongoing.
Who is the author of the work created with the help of artificial intelligence?
To try to answer this question, it is necessary to trace the basic concepts regulated by the relevant legal regime. Poland is currently governed by the Act of February 4, 1994 on Copyright and Related Rights (i.e. Journal of Laws 2022, item 2509).
The work as a subject of copyright protection
Copyright focuses on the concept of a work. As Article 1(1) of the Copyright Law states: “The subject of copyright is any manifestation of creative activity of an individual character, established in any form, regardless of value, purpose, and manner of expression (work).”
This is a broad definition that includes many types of works, such as:
1) expressed in words, mathematical symbols, graphic signs (literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic and computer programs);
2) Plastic;
3) photographic;
4) luthiers;
5) industrial design;
6) architectural, architectural and urban planning;
7) Musical and verbal-musical;
8) stage, stage-music, choreography and pantomime;
9) audiovisual (including film).
However, it is important that only the mode of expression is protected by law, not the ideas, procedures, procedures, methods, and principles of operation or mathematical concepts themselves.
A work becomes the subject of copyright from the moment it is established, even if it is unfinished. Protection accrues to the creator regardless of the fulfillment of any formalities.
Man or machine?
Although copyright law does not explicitly specify it, it is a well-established view in the domestic and international context that only the creative activity of a human being, i.e., an individual, can be protected. Machines, even the most advanced ones, cannot be considered creators under copyright law. Neither a machine nor nature, therefore, can be a creative force.
Is it possible to possess copyright to AI work?
According to the provisions of the law, only a product created by an individual is a protected work. Thus, it is now assumed that the AI creation itself, created on the basis of parameters entered by an individual, cannot be considered a work subject to copyright protection.
According to this prevailing position, it is assumed that the content so produced becomes part of the public domain.
A slightly different approach should be taken when an individual, in his own creative process, makes only limited use of artificial intelligence to create a work. In such a case, the answer to whether such a creation is protected by copyright is not zero-sum.
Each case of such a work will require an individual approach and analysis. It will be necessary to verify whether it meets the criteria for recognition as a work under copyright law. It seems reasonable that in a situation of significant human contribution, with the use of AI solely as a tool, copyright in the creations thus created should be granted to that person as a creator. Of course, as long as the overall result of his work meets the prerequisites of a work within the meaning of copyright law.
Importantly, in the event that such a creation created using artificial intelligence is deemed to be protected as a work under copyright law, all the rules under the provisions of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights will apply. In particular, attention should be paid to the requirements for agreements transferring economic copyright and the rules governing the use and distribution of derivative works.
Artificial intelligence infringes on others’ copyrights
Issues related to liability for actions taken using artificial intelligence are beyond the scope of this article. Therefore, it should only be signaled that generative artificial intelligence uses output data that may be subject to copyright protection if the data are works within the meaning of copyright law.
As a result, artificial intelligence can use or rework a work belonging to another entity and thus lead to copyright infringement of the creator. Therefore, if you use AI tools, be aware of this and verify the results of AI-assisted work whenever possible.
The future of copyright protection for AI works
The current state of the law has not kept pace with the development of artificial intelligence and does not provide clear answers in many aspects. As a result, each case of a creation created using AI must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis for the possibility of protection under intellectual property law.
Despite the ongoing controversy, the prevailing view today is that a work generated by artificial intelligence is not a work. From the point of view of copyright law, its protection does not cover it.
The dissenting postulates that it is possible to obtain copyright in a work created with artificial intelligence-based tools, depending on the degree of human creative contribution to the creation of the work. In this case, artificial intelligence will be treated only as a tool for creating the work.
A uniform and binding regulation of this issue at the EU level would avoid many doubts about copyright protection for creations created using AI.