Copyright for AI-generated Works: a Task for the Internal Market?

Abstract

This article positions copyright law within the EU’s constitutional limits. It considers whether the EU legislative competences allow for the expansion of copyright protection to works generated through artificial intelligence (AI) systems where the human intervention is insufficient to trigger an intellectual property claim. The analysis demonstrates that the internal market goal, despite its flexibility and broad scope, does not justify opening EU copyright law to purely AI-generated works. The principles of better regulation, subsidiarity, and most importantly, proportionality should bar any such legislative proposal; or at least, curtail it appropriately. Extending copyright protection to cover purely AI-generated works bears costs of various nature for many stakeholders, which should be carefully balanced before any legislative expansion takes place.