ARTificial: Why Copyright Is Not the Right Policy Tool to Deal with Generative AI

The rapid advancement and widespread application of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) raise complex issues regarding authorship, originality, and the ethical use of copyrighted materials for AI training.

As attempts to regulate AI proliferate, this Essay proposes a taxonomy of reasons, from the perspective of creatives and society alike, that explain why copyright law is ill-equipped to handle the nuances of AI-generated content.

Originally designed to incentivize creativity, copyright doctrine has been expanded in scope to cover new technological mediums. This expansion has proven to increase the complexity and uncertainty of copyright doctrine’s application—ironically leading to the stifling of innovation. In this Essay, I warn that further attempts to expand the interpretation of copyright doctrine to accommodate the particularities of GAI might well worsen that problem, all while failing to fulfill copyright’s stated goal of protecting creators’ rights to consent, attribution, and compensation.

Moreover, I argue that, in that expansion, there is the peril of overreaching copyright laws that will negatively impact society and the development of ethical AI. This Essay explores the philosophical, legal, and practical dimensions of these challenges in four parts.