Tech firms, content industry debate AI, copyright at ministry of commerce event

WHo owns the information that fuels unreal intelligence service (AI)? That was the exchange — and combative — question debated by representatives from big tech firms and the content industry during a two-day stakeholder consultation organised by the ministry of commerce and industry’s department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT).The meetings were chaired by DPIIT additional secretary Himani Pande on June 19 and 20. At the centre of the discussion was whether tech companies should be allowed to freely mine the internet, which includes copyrighted books, articles, music, images, and videos, to train their AI models.The content industry raised concerns over their copyrighted data being used to train AI models without permission, while tech companies argued that training their models requires massive amounts of data—much of which is copyrighted.The startups on the first day urged the DPIIT to ensure a level playing field, arguing that while they are still in the early stages of building their AI models, larger companies have already trained theirs, often without facing the same level of regulatory scrutiny or restrictions, said a participant from the tech meet on June 19.A representative from the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), who was present at the content industry meeting, said, “DNPA firmly believes that utilising the content of digital news publishers, without consent, for AI training and subsequent generative AI applications, such as search assistance and information purposes, constitutes an infringement of copyright.”Also Read: HC experts differ in OpenAI copyright case“The association advocates for a regime that ensures fair compensation for content producers, recognising their rights in the digital landscape,” he added.A stakeholder meeting for the content industry saw creators worried about being “strip-mined for data,” a participant said.One of the key topics discussed at both meetings was whether India should permit text and data mining (TDM) under an opt-out framework. TDM is a technique used by AI systems to scan and learn from vast volumes of data, including text and images.Also Read: First meeting held on AI’s impact on India’s copyright frameworkAn alternative mechanism that came up during the meeting on Friday was whether a statutory licensing mechanism for AI training purposes might work, which involves allowing the use of copyrighted works without direct permission, provided companies pay a government-set fee and follow certain rules.The DPIIT sought industry input on the copyright status of AI-generated works—an issue also at the heart of the ANI vs OpenAI case in the Delhi High Court, where the news agency filed a lawsuit against the ChatGPT creator for allegedly using its articles to train AI models.“Who should be considered the actual owner of content generated by AI? If a user puts significant effort into crafting a prompt that leads to a specific output, does that make the user the rightful owner or does the ownership lie with the creators of the AI model?” a person representing an AI startup said.Also read: Data for training stored overseas, copyright law doesn’t apply: OpenAIThese stakeholder meetings build on the work of a nine-member DPIIT committee formed in April, which includes IP lawyers, industry representatives, IT ministry officials, academicians, and DPIIT officials. While the committee has been meeting regularly since May 16, HT had earlier reported that one member expressed discomfort with being on the committee, saying they lacked AI expertise.The committee, which heard different views from the tech and content industries during the two-day meeting, will soon publish a working paper outlining whether India’s copyright law needs to be updated to address challenges posed by AI.