Abstract
The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into creative, cultural, and commercial ecosystems has fundamentally transformed the contours of authorship, originality, and ownership — the very pillars of copyright law. The rise of AI generated works presents previously unheard-of ethical and legal challenges in India, where copyright jurisprudence is primarily based on the human-centric model of the Copyright Act, 1957. This research paper critically examines the challenges of aligning existing copyright frameworks with the realities of algorithmic creativity and machine-generated outputs. It investigates whether authorship, liability, and fair use issues in the era of intelligent automation are sufficiently addressed by the current legislative provisions, case law interpretations, and international commitments under TRIPS and the Berne Convention. The study also looks into the ethical implications of AI in creative processes, including the rights of human creators whose work is used to train generative models, biases present in training datasets, and transparency in authorship a ribution. In order to suggest a fair, forward-thinking governance model for India, it also assesses comparative legal developments across jurisdictions, such as the US, UK, and EU. The study emphasizes the need for a nuanced approach that balances innovation and protection, human creativity and technological advancement, and national legal autonomy with international copyright norms by using a doctrinal and analytical methodology. Ultimately, this paper argues for a reimagined copyright governance framework in India — one that embeds AI accountability, data ethics, and equitable recognition of human creative contribution within its legislative and policy structures. Such reform is crucial to ensuring that India’s copyright ecosystem evolves as both technologically adaptive and ethically grounded in the digital age.
Keywords
- Copyright Governance
- Artificial Intelligence
- Authorship and Ownership
- Ethical Challenges
- Indian Copyright Law
Author affiliations
- Maitri Shail Patel; Currently, the Author is a 2nd Year Ph.D. Research Scholar at School of Doctoral Research & Innovation (SDRI) of GLS University (Ahmedabad. The Author’s Qualifications involve: B.A. (Economics), LL.B., LL.M. (Human Rights & Duties), and LL.M. (Criminal & Security Laws) maitrishail@gmail.com
- Dr. Sonal Raval; Co-Author is an Assistant Professor at the GLS University (Ahmedabad) and the Ph.D. Guide of the Author sonal.raval@glsuniversity.ac.in
How to cite
Maitri Shail Patel, Dr. Sonal Raval, “RE-IMAGINING COPYRIGHT GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: LEGAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE,” IPEM Law Journal, vol. 9, pp. 41–55, Dec. 2025, doi: