Artificial Creativity: Emergent Works and the Void in Current Copyright Doctrine

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s lips and is in everyday use. Yet discussion of what this means for our present and futureparticularly in terms of the revolutions that AI might bring to the legal sphere—has only just begun. One topic that warrants, but has yet to receive, in-depth attention is the relevance of AI for innovative and creative activity and production. Legal analyses thus far have focused on humans and their role as innovators, authors, or creators. Left in the dark, however, is the question of how to regulate AI when it “innovates” or “creates” autonomously—without human direction or intervention.

Examples of such artificial creativity abound. Robots and computers have recently come to paint works of art, compose symphonies, and write news articles, poetry, and novels. All of these “works” would doubtlessly be protected by copyright if created by a human being. But we are hopelessly naïve when confronted with whether and how copyright law and neighboring areas of intellectual property protection should respond to the rise of AI. Indeed, current law is devoid of rules and doctrines for artificial creativity—with the result that AI-generated works are left unprotected. The consequences of such neglect are yet to be discussed.

This Article provides an overview of the status quo of artificial creativity—i.e., creative production by AI—and its regulation (or, rather, non-regulation) in different jurisdictions, as well as an analysis of relevant doctrinal debates and economic foundations. It then offers suggestions for a reconceptualization of current doctrine, outlining a roadmap and overarching framework for legislative action and practical adjudication.
Original languageEnglish
JournalYale Journal of Law and Technology
Volume22
Pages (from-to)1-60
Number of pages60
ISSN2766-2403
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Law

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Authentizität mathematischer Modellierungsaufgaben in standardisierten Testsituationen
  2. Student Gender and Teachers' Grading and Written Feedback on Math or Language Assignments
  3. On the structurual Richness of Art Historical Discourse
  4. Teaching and Exploring Sustainability in Virtual Space
  5. Liquidity, Flows, Circulation: The Cultural Logic of Environmentalization (1st part)
  6. EAWOP Small Group Meeting - 2011
  7. Mathematikdidaktisches Kolloquium
  8. A kinetic approach to the study of ideal multipole resonance probe
  9. Creating Space for Academic Feedom: Progressive Liberal Education in a German Public University
  10. Detached and out of touch? Political Elites between public criticism and logic of professionalization.
  11. Between the Wage and the Commons
  12. Network-Based Analysis of Lagrangian Transport and Mixing
  13. The Future of International Sanctions
  14. Multilingualism in School and teaching – an Empirical Analysis of the Beliefs of Teacher Education Students: A Methodological approach towards the beliefs construct
  15. The Legacy of German Idealism
  16. Ringvorlesung "Maple Leaf & Stars and Stripes" WiSe 2017/2018
  17. Educating responsible consumers for a sustainable world
  18. Building Bridges: The potential of transdisciplinary research to face complex crisis
  19. A Geometric Approach to Decouple Robotino Motions and its Functional Controllability
  20. Teachers beliefs and goals concerning inquiry-based science
  21. Fast or sustainable fashion? - The intersection of values and gender as triggers of consumer motivation
  22. Speaking back to Theory. Africanist Migration Research beyond the Categories
  23. Academy of Management (Externe Organisation)