AI And Copyright: What Materials Can Be Used And What Can Be Protected?

Legal contentions surround the fair use of copyright materials for training AI models. The question of whether AI-generated content can be copyright protected – often for marketing use – is under debate too. We look at the current status in some of Rouse's main markets.

China

The country's latest draft rules on Generative AI (under public consultation until July 2024) place the onus on AI providers to screen out copyrighted material from datasets used for training models.

Alongside this, the Guangzhou Internet Court ruled that Tab, a generative AI platform had infringed the copyright of 'Ultraman' works (February 2024). Part of the judgement set out the duty of care for AI providers to manage risks and establish reporting mechanisms for when copyright protected materials are identified in training data.