ABSTRACT:
The emergence and rapid growth of knowledge made possible by contemporary technologies linked to artificial intelligence (AI) pose fundamental concerns for existing ways of governing the ownership and protection of digital assets. AI systems are increasingly able to create, modify and copy digital assets resulting in concerns for authorship, copyright, and authenticity of these digital assets. In this research, we explore current legal, technological, and ethical perspectives concerning the developments around, and applications of, AI-generated digital assets. We examine how AI recomposes the current systems of ownership and protection in a review of academic literature, legal systems, and real-world examples.
AI-generated content often presents no clear authorship which undermines copyright claims. The use of copyrighted material in AI training data similarly creates ambiguity about rights of ownership. Furthermore, AI’s ability to replicate or create digital styles and voices will further hinder traditional protective mechanisms, while items such as NFTs that rely on blockchain also do not have the ability to prove originalty when set against the visual cloning capacity presented by AI.AI continues to evolve and grow, and therefore it is time to assess governance frameworks that have been more or less stable for a considerable amount of time. Intellectual property frameworks will need to be updated or re-conceptualized in light of the creativity of non-humans, and the growing use of data, irrespective of whether data is protected (and ownership derives from that protection). It is also increasingly clear that globally based technologies will need to be developed and globally based policies re-established to uphold fair ownership, protection, and accountability in the digital age. Otherwise, creators may find themselves and their work at the mercy of AI.
KEYWORDS: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Assets, Ownership, Protection, Intellectual Property,
Authorship, Copyright, AI Generated content, Originality, The Copyright Act,1957
1.INTRODUCTION:
In the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), the concept of generative AI has sparked both fascination and concern. Generative AI refers to systems that have the ability to create original content, such as text, images, or music, based on input data or prompts provided by users. Text prompts, in particular, serve as cues or instructions given to AI systems to generate specific types of content. While the capabilities of generative AI have led to innovative applications across various industries, they have also raised complex legal questions, particularly in the realm of copyright law.
The core of the issue lies in the intersection of AI-generated works and copyright, where traditional legal frameworks struggle to keep pace with technological advancements. One of the primary challenges stems from the determination of ownership and authorship of AI-generated works. Unlike traditional creative works where human authors are easily identifiable, AI-generated works blur the lines of authorship, raising questions about who should be credited as the creator and who holds the rights to these creations.