India reviewing copyright law as AI firms face legal challenges

India is scrutinizing its copyright frameworks as AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT face legal challenges over content usage. The establishment of an expert panel to examine whether existing copyright laws can adequately address AI-related disputes highlights the growing tension between traditional intellectual property protections and emerging AI technologies. This review comes at a critical juncture as courts worldwide grapple with claims from content creators who allege their work is being used to train AI systems without permission or compensation.

The big picture: India’s commerce ministry has assembled an eight-member expert panel to evaluate if the country’s 1957 Copyright Act is sufficient to address AI-related intellectual property disputes.

• The panel includes intellectual property lawyers, government officials, and industry executives tasked with identifying legal and policy issues arising from AI in the context of copyright.
• This review occurs amid an ongoing high court case in New Delhi where prominent Indian news outlets and publishers have accused OpenAI of using their content without permission to train ChatGPT.

Legal battleground: OpenAI faces challenges from a coalition of major Indian media organizations claiming copyright violations.

• The plaintiffs include Gautam Adani’s NDTV, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and the Digital News Publishers Association, representing many top news outlets.
• OpenAI maintains that its use of public data to train ChatGPT does not violate India’s copyright law and offers websites an opt-out option.

Global context: The Indian case reflects a worldwide legal reckoning between content creators and AI companies.

• Courts internationally are hearing similar claims from authors, news organizations, and musicians who allege technology companies are using their copyrighted work without permission or payment.
• How India resolves these questions could influence global approaches to balancing innovation with intellectual property protection.

Why this matters: The outcome of India’s copyright review and related legal proceedings could establish precedents for how AI companies operate in the world’s most populous country.

• Any regulatory changes would impact how AI systems access and use content for training purposes in a market with 1.4 billion potential users.
• The panel’s recommendations could reshape the relationship between content creators and AI developers in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.