Government Launches Copyright Review Panel as AI Sparks Legal Storm

A group has apparently been established by the Centre to examine current copyright legislation in light of the growing number of issues pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI). According to a media report, the Union trade ministry last month formed a group consisting of eight specialists to investigate AI-related issues and their consequences for India's copyright law.

 According to the source, the team, which consists of government representatives, industry executives, and intellectual property attorneys, will determine if the Copyright Act of 1957 is sufficient to address issues pertaining to AI.

In light of copyright concerns, the panel members have been instructed to identify and evaluate legal and policy concerns resulting from the application of AI. As a result, the government will get the committee's report.

Never Ending Trouble for Open AI

The main issue raised by news platforms is that AI companies are using their copyrighted content to train their core models without obtaining a licence, permission, or payment. Last year, ANI brought a case against OpenAI in India before the Delhi High Court (HC).

 Media organisations such as NDTV, Network18, the Indian Express, and the Hindustan Times joined the case against the inventor of ChatGPT in January of this year. The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) and 20 companies filed a 135-page complaint in court, arguing that OpenAI's "conduct" poses "a clear and present danger to the valuable copyrights" of DNPA members and other sources.

On behalf of all of its members, including Rupa Publications, S Chand and Co., Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, Cambridge University Press, and others, the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) also filed a complaint against OpenAI in the Delhi High Court earlier this year.

Music Companies too Raising Concerns

Major record companies including T-Series, Saregarama, and Sony also indicated in February that they would be interested to join the Delhi High Court's ongoing copyright case against the ChatGPT creator.

The HC at the time requested that OpenAI respond to the Indian Music Industry's (IMI) motion to join the lawsuit. According to ANI's plea, ChatGPT "reproduced verbatim or substantially similar extracts" of the news agency's publications at the request of users.

The lawsuit also alleges that by using ANI's content to train its large language models (LLMs), OpenAI took advantage of the new agency's content for its own financial benefit. ANI told the Delhi High Court at a hearing in March of this year that the ChatGPT maker's use of its content dilutes its market, which results in unfair competition.

Notably, the AI giant managed by Sam Altman previously urged the HC to reject infringement charges against it and informed the court that it is not required to form alliances with major media sites in order to use their content.