Copyright and new technologies: Study published

In October 2020, DG CNECT commissioned a consortium of Technopolis Group, Philippe Rixhon Associates, UCLouvain, Crowell&Moring and IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems with the execution of a 9-month Study on copyright and new technologies: copyright data management and artificial intelligence.

The European Writers’ Council responded within a Delphi Survey format as selected expert in 2021.

Altogether 64 entities answered on the forst part of the study; and ca 55 on the second part, considered as IP experts. The EWC was the only organisation taking part on behalf of the interests of writers and translators in the European Book Sector.

The study addresses two topics related to the copyright system and new technologies, dealt with in two dedicated parts of the study.

• •  The first part of the study systematically takes stock of the current situation with respect to rights metadata in different creative industries. It attempts to identify and describe the economic impact of the current situation related to rights metadata. It also compiles information on the most important ongoing initiatives to address some of the identified problems. Finally, the study indicates broad avenues which could contribute to improving functioning of the copyright data ecosystem.
• •  The second part of the study focuses on a) uses of copyright-protected content as input to feed AI technologies and b) the copyright implications of the production of cultural outputs by or with the assistance of AI. Furthermore, the study discusses possible policy scenarios which might be needed to react to these developments.

The EWC was able to clarify three main points:

– AI does not generate any creative work of its own. It copies, plagiarises and mimics. No proprietary right of its own may arise from this.

– AI products resolve numerous liability and responsibility issues. If an AI violates personal rights or spreads political or scientific disinformation: who is liable? Who assumes responsibility for legal and other procedures?

– AI-produced products, especially translations or automatically generated text works, must be labelled as such. The absence of labelling will otherwise lead to remuneration diffusion at collective management organisations (device levies, PLR, other); and also undermine a price structure if AI text products are sold to users at the same market prices as those works involving the human mind and are fairly remunerated accordingly, increasing a company’s investment.

The study results were published in April 2022.