Copyright Liability and Generative AI: What’s the Way Forward?
By Kacper Szkalej[*]LL.D. (Uppsala), LL.M. (Stockholm), Researcher in Intellectual Property Law, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I am grateful to the Danish and Swedish Copyright Societies for the invitation to the symposium and to professor Estelle Derclaye for comments on an earlier draft.
1. Introduction
The intersection of copyright liability and generative AI has become one of the most complex and debated issues in the field of copyright law. AI systems have advanced significantly to allow the creation of fantastic new content but they are also capable of producing outputs that evoke, adapt, or recreate content that is protected by copyright law, sparking several infringement proceedings against AI companies, particularly in the US.[1]For example Getty Images Inc. v. Stability AI., 1:23-cv-00135-JLH; In re: OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation No. 3:23-cv-3223; New York Times Company v. Microsoft Corporation et al, No. 1:23-cv-11195; In re Google Generative AI Copyright Litigation Master File Case No. 5:23-cv-03440-EKL; Doe 1 v. GitHub, Inc., No. 4:22-cv-06823-JST. <https://www.bakerlaw.com/services/artificial-intelligence-ai/case-tracker-artificial-intelligence-copyrights-and-class-actions/>. With this rapid evolution comes the need to re-examine existing legal frameworks and theories. In this contribution, I would like to focus on liability challenges at the output stage of AI content generation and share some insights from Sweden to finally ponder about possible paths forward.
