Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used by many companies to accelerate and improve their operations. Thanks to tools such as Chat GPT, DALL-2, and Midjourney, anyone can quickly create graphics, images, and stories. The future will undoubtedly see an increasing number of applications for artificial intelligence, which will significantly and undoubtedly positively impact people's lives and the operations of many companies.
But does the use of artificial intelligence bring only benefits? Unfortunately, not. Using artificial intelligence is associated with certain problems and risks that may affect interest in AI. One of the biggest issues related to AI is copyright. Specifically, this issue concerns the work itself, created by AI, and the question of who owns the copyright. To accurately present this issue, it is necessary to answer the question of which works are subject to copyright protection. According to Article 1 of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights: " The subject of copyright shall be any manifestation of creative activity of an individual nature, established in any form, regardless of value, purpose, or manner of expression (work) ."
According to the above definition, virtually any work that meets the above requirements will be subject to copyright protection. However, this will not apply to works created by artificial intelligence. Why? Because to be considered a work for copyright purposes, it must be created by a human. Therefore, a work created by artificial intelligence will be treated as a work created by natural forces (wind, snow, animals, etc.). The requirement for a work to be considered a work of art exists in most countries.
The issue under discussion also raises the question of who is the creator of a work created by artificial intelligence. The matter is more complicated in this respect. First and foremost, it should be noted that a person creating a work using artificial intelligence will not be legally recognized as the creator of the work. This stems from the fact that a work created by artificial intelligence is not a work within the meaning of copyright law. Therefore, a person who uses GPT Chat, DALL-2, or another computer program to create, for example, a novel or a painting will not be considered the author of that work. Given this, and the fact that a work created by artificial intelligence will not be considered a work within the meaning of copyright law, that person will not be entitled to copyright ownership in that work. Furthermore, such a work, due to the above, will not be subject to legal protection. Consequently, a work created by artificial intelligence will be in the public domain, meaning that anyone can use, distribute, and copy it.
This solution undoubtedly poses a significant problem for anyone using artificial intelligence to create content they plan to use for commercial purposes. Therefore, when using programs such as Chat GPT, DALL-2, or Midjourney, it's important to remember that the resulting work will not be our property and that anyone can use it.
The situation is different, however, in the case of tools using artificial intelligence, which is a computer program. Specifically, pursuant to Article 74 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, " 1. Computer programs are protected as literary works, unless the provisions of this chapter provide otherwise. " Thanks to this regulation, a person who holds copyright in a computer program will also have rights to a work created by artificial intelligence. This protection will result from holding rights to the computer program, not from the fact that the work of artificial intelligence is covered by copyright.
When discussing the issue of copyright and artificial intelligence, one might wonder whether modifying a work created by artificial intelligence will legally make the person who used the artificial intelligence to create it its author. Unfortunately, there are currently no regulations that clearly confirm that modifying a work created by artificial intelligence allows for obtaining copyright in that work. Therefore, it should be assumed that such a solution does not lead to obtaining copyright.
Given the above, it's important to remember that creating a work using artificial intelligence does not grant copyright to that work, and that work is not considered a work under copyright law. Furthermore, such a work enters the public domain and anyone can freely use it. This, of course, excludes a work created by an artificial intelligence tool, which is a computer program. In such a case, the creator of the computer program will own the copyright to the work created by the artificial intelligence.
This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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