ChatGPT: what the law says about who owns the copyright of AI-generated content

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There are many proposed uses for the technology, but its impressive capabilities raise important questions about ownership of the content.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-what-the-law-says-about-who-owns-the-copyright-of-ai-generated-content-200597https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-what-the-law-says-about-who-owns-the-copyright-of-ai-generated-content-200597
Retrieved on: 
Monday, April 17, 2023
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Technology, Microsoft PowerPoint, Human, Employment, LLM, ChatGPT, Microsoft, Data mining, Copyright, OpenAI, Government, Creativity, Algorithm, Microsoft Excel, Artificial intelligence, Knowledge, Efficiency, AI, Ownership, Book, TDM, Legislation, Software, Medical imaging, Sales, Medical device, Music, Creative industries
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UK
Summary
Key Points: 
  • There are many proposed uses for the technology, but its impressive capabilities raise important questions about ownership of the content.
  • Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 they are “generated by computer in circumstances such that there is no human author of the work”.
  • The law suggests content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) can be protected by copyright.
  • However, the original sources of answers generated by AI chatbots can be difficult to trace – and they might include copyrighted works.

Question of ownership

    • Now to question two: who can claim copyright to AI-generated content.
    • Copyright law is based around a general principle that only content created by human beings can be protected.
    • The algorithms underpinning ChatGPT were developed at OpenAI, so the company would appear to hold copyright protection over those.
    • There is another option regarding the ownership of AI-generated content: the AI itself.

Future shifts

    • The tech sector believes the copyright to AI-generated content should belong to users, whereas the creative sector wants this content to be excluded from ownership completely.
    • The UK government has not acted on the findings and instead recommended further consultation between the interested parties.
    • If copyright law shifts away from its focus on human agency in future, one could imagine a scenario where an AI is classed as the author and the developers of that AI as the owners of the output.
    • They could end up owning hundreds of thousands of copyrighted materials – songs, published materials, visuals and other digital assets.
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