AI-GENERATED WORK AND COPYRIGHT LAW IN INDIA

This paper examines the legal position of AI-generated works under Indian copyright law, with a focus on authorship, ownership, originality, infringement, and fair dealing. It analyses the Copyright Act, 1957, particularly provisions relating to the definition of author, ownership of copyright, moral rights, and exceptions to infringement under Section 52. The scope of the paper includes the major uncertainty created by generative AI. It considers whether content produced by an AI system can receive copyright protection and, if so, who should be considered the rightful owner, such as the user, developer, employer, or another legal entity. It also discusses whether the use of copyrighted material for training AI models may amount to copyright infringement under Indian law. The paper further considers India’s present legal gap by referring to recent judicial and regulatory developments, including the ANI v. OpenAI case and government responses to AI-related copyright concerns. It also briefly compares India’s approach with selected international jurisdictions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Singapore, Japan, and the European Union. The study is limited to copyright-related issues and does not provide an in-depth technical analysis of artificial intelligence. Its main aim is to identify the challenges posed by AI-generated content and suggest the need for a balanced legal framework that protects human creativity while also supporting technological innovation.