Protecting AI content through intellectual property rights

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney have made artificial intelligence accessible to a wide audience, from large companies to individual users. For example, AI is used in business for writing and translating text, creating graphics, analyzing data and designing new products or campaigns, among other things. For now, work generated by AI is not eligible for copyright protection. This is because it requires a certain amount of human creativity. In this article you can read more about the possibilities of protecting AI content.

AI and copyright

A user is responsible for the command (“prompt”) he gives an AI tool. Entering a prompt into an AI tool is often equated with entering an idea. This idea is then fully developed by the AI tool, without the user having any influence on its exact outcome (‘output’). Moreover, the output at the same prompt is not consistent. The same prompt leads to different results each time. Besides the fact that an idea by itself does not enjoy copyright protection, the elaboration of an idea by an AI tool is not considered human creativity so far. Thus, the output generated by AI is most likely not eligible for copyright protection. For an AI-generated image, the U.S. District Court in Columbia has already ruled that it cannot be copyrighted due to a lack of human input.

Because AI output in all likelihood does not qualify for copyright protection, the user of the AI tool as the “creator” of an AI image cannot invoke copyright. This means that third parties (in the aforementioned case) can publish or reproduce the image without permission without legal consequences.

AI and design law

An article on the boek9.nl website addressed the design law protection of AI output. Design law protects the appearance of a product. A product is any object manufactured in an industrial or artisanal manner. Therefore, unlike copyright law, the creation of a product to be protected by design law does not require a degree of human creativity. AI output is created by a process that uses advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques. These could potentially qualify as industrial production methods, so output generated by AI could potentially enjoy design right protection.

Conclusion

Although AI content does not qualify for copyright protection for the time being, design law may offer a solution. With the rapid developments in the field of AI, these issues will become increasingly important. How judges will rule on this, only time will tell.

Questions?

Do you have any questions? Then contact one of our lawyers by mail, telephone or fill in the contact form for a free initial consultation. We will be happy to think along with you.