Crisis of the “Author” Concept in Intellectual Property Law in the Context of the Development of Generative AI: International Legal and Digital Security Aspects

Abstract

The article examines the crisis of the traditional concept of the author in the context of the development of generative artificial intelligence and provides a doctrinal analysis of the protectability issues related to objects created using generative artificial intelligence technologies. The theoretical and legal foundations of the concept of the author in intellectual property law are revealed, the criteria of the creative nature and originality of a work are analyzed, and the peculiarities of the transformation of the creative process under conditions of the use of generative artificial intelligence are determined. Particular attention is paid to the problems of determining the subject of copyright in relation to results generated by artificial intelligence, the correlation between copyright protection and the special legal protection regime for non-original objects, as well as modern approaches to assessing human creative contribution in the process of content generation. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the transformation of the concept of the author in intellectual property law, to determine the problems of protectability of objects generated by artificial intelligence, and to substantiate directions for improving legal regulation in this field.

Methods. The methodological basis of the research consists of general scientific and special legal methods. The formal legal method was used to analyze the provisions of Ukrainian legislation in the field of copyright and legal protection of objects generated by artificial intelligence. The systemic method was applied to examine the interrelation between the categories of authorship, creative contribution, originality, and protectability in the context of the development of generative artificial intelligence. The comparative legal method was used to analyze modern foreign approaches to the legal regulation of objects generated by artificial intelligence. The analytical method was applied to assess contemporary doctrinal approaches to determining the legal status of the results generated by artificial intelligence and the prospects for improving legislation in the field of intellectual property.

Results. The study established that the development of generative artificial intelligence causes a transformation of classical approaches to understanding authorship, creative contribution, and the criteria of protectability of intellectual property objects. It is substantiated that human creative contribution remains the key condition for the emergence of copyright protection even under conditions of active use of generative artificial intelligence. A differentiated approach to determining the legal regime of objects created using generative artificial intelligence is proposed, as well as an algorithm for determining their protectability, taking into account the degree of human creative participation, the level of autonomy of generation, and the features of originality of the result. The necessity of further improvement of intellectual property legislation and adaptation of legal regulation to modern digital technologies is substantiated.