ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTHORSHIP: RETHINKING COPYRIGHT LAW IN INDIA
AUTHOR – DIKSHA KUMARI & SUDHANSHU KUMAR
STUDENTS AT AMITY UNIVERSITY, PATNA
BEST CITATION – DIKSHA KUMARI & SUDHANSHU KUMAR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTHORSHIP: RETHINKING COPYRIGHT LAW IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (14) OF 2025, PG. 282-292, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially generative AI systems capable of producing literature, music, art, and software code, has fundamentally challenged traditional copyright norms premised on human creativity and original expression. The Indian Copyright Act, 1957, drafted in a pre-algorithmic era, presupposes the existence of a human author as the source of intellectual labour and creativity. With AI now autonomously generating complex works, the Indian copyright regime faces a doctrinal vacuum regarding the status of such works and the attribution of authorship. This article examines whether AI can or should be considered an author within the meaning of Section 2(d) of the Act, drawing upon comparative jurisprudence from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia. It discusses foundational concepts of originality, fixation, human authorship, and the incentive theory underpinning copyright law. The article critically evaluates the limited Indian jurisprudence and the brief recognition (and subsequent withdrawal) of an AI system as a copyright author by the Indian Copyright Office. It further explores the competing models of ownership, including programmer-centric, user-centric, corporate-centric, and public-domain approaches, and their policy implications. Finally, it proposes a structured framework for legislative reform, advocating for a hybrid model that recognises the human role in AI-generated works while preventing over-monopolisation of creative outputs. The study concludes that India must modernise its copyright framework by acknowledging AI’s growing role in creative production while preserving the foundational values of authorship, originality, and public interest.