AI and copyright: can AI-generated works be protected?

Yes, they can be protected, but certain assessments must be made.

Italian Copyright Law is built around the idea of “human creativity,” a concept that is undoubtedly challenged by advanced and efficient technologies like generative AI.

Is entering a prompt enough to be considered the creative author of a work?

Most legislation, including Italian law, requires the author to be a natural person capable of exercising their own creative will.

Therefore, works are protected based on the creative character of human ingenuity, even when created with the help of artificial intelligence tools, provided they are the result of the author’s intellectual labor.

How can the creative contribution be proven?

Once protection is established, the creative contribution itself must be proven.

In this regard, it can be useful to document the creative process by retaining the prompt, the selection of parameters, the editing, and the modifications to the output.

It is also essential to check the terms of service of the AI platforms being used, especially regarding clauses that reserve copyrights on the output and those that define copyright licenses on the training datasets.

Furthermore, it should be emphasized that institutions are still trying to adapt the rules to this new reality, so staying updated on regulatory developments is essential to understand their practical application. Some courts, both European and international, have already ruled on cases relating to the copyright protection of AI-generated works, and their directions are not always uniform.

In summary, it is crucial for creators to document their work, carefully read the terms of the AI platforms, and, when necessary, formalize contractual agreements.