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Machines, Attribution, and Integrity: Artificial Intelligence and Moral Rights

Citation: , Machines, Attribution, and Integrity: Artificial Intelligence and Moral Rights, in: Jusletter IT 21. February 2019

Content production by software, especially in the realm of «artificial intelligence» (AI), poses significant challenges in the field of intellectual property law. Copyright ownership in AI-produced content is a cornerstone of this debate; this does not only involve economic rights, but also moral rights such as the right to claim authorship or the integrity of the work. While some jurisdictions such as the UK have enacted special rules in this respect, the matter remains unaddressed in many other countries. This issue is further complicated as which moral rights are protected differs in each country. Therefore, the present paper studies the relationship between AI-produced content and moral rights and sketches the arising issues from both a civil law and a common law perspective.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Legal background
- 2.1. Moral copyrights under international and European copyright law
- 2.2. Protection of AI-generated content
- 2.3. The protection of computer-generated works in the UK
3. Moral rights in AI-created content
- 3.1. AI as the owner of moral rights
- 3.2. Creators or users of AI as the owner of moral rights
4. Conclusion