AI-Generated Creative Works and Copyright Law in India: Legal Gaps and Way Forward

The creative field is becoming more and more shaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI) when machines are able to produce literature, visual art, music, films and digital media with little or no human creativity. Although these developments are a major technological change, they also confront the fundamental premises on which the copyright law is conventionally founded. The copyright law has been traditionally tailored to defend the works that are created by the human mind, abilities and judgment. The introduction of AI-generated creative works alters this premise to bring unanswered questions related to originality, authorship, ownership and legal responsibility. As an autonomous system creates creative output, it becomes hard to know whether the principles of existing copyright on the same can be utilized and who must be considered as the right holder legally in that instance. In India, the Copyright Act, 1957, lacks provisions that specifically address AI-generated works. The legal system still has the same interpretation that is based on human authorship, so it poses a problem of ambiguity in the protection and enforcement of rights of the works produced by artificial intelligence. This lack of clarity leads to gaps in the law that could be used against creators and developers of AI technologies and users. This paper reviews how AI-generated creative works relate to the Indian copyright law. It evaluates the shortcomings of the existing legal system, points out new legal issues arising, and compares them with the international practice. The paper also suggests some possible changes in laws and policies that can help fill these gaps, and at the same time, not favour or spoil creative innovators in the rapidly changing digital world.