Artificial Intelligence Painting The Bigger Picture For Copyright Ownership

To receive copyright protection in Australia works must be original, amongst other requirements. The originality standard involves ‘independent intellectual effort’ that originates from an actual person. The reality of today’s creativity domain is that works are not always originating from actual persons. Due to impressive advancements in technology, some works are being created by artificial intelligence and without the involvement of an actual person. These works cannot meet copyright requirements under current law and subsequently do not receive copyright protection. This paper endeavours to answer a two-tiered question posed by the challenges artificial intelligence works have on traditional concepts of copyright. Firstly, should copyright subsist in works created by AI? Secondly, who would possibly be the copyright owner for such works? Answering these questions involves a discussion of utilitarian and natural rights theories and references to US and UK discussions on the conversation around copyright and artificial intelligence.