AI and IP

Intellectual property rights have traditionally been granted to protect and to encourage human creativity. The rise of creative “artificial intelligence” (AI) now poses deep issues concerning both (i) whether, and to what extent, IP rights should extend to works created solely by AIs or with the assistance of AIs, and (ii) whether, and to what extent, the training and use of AIs infringe the body of extant works covered by IP rights. Already (meaning by the middle of 2024), test cases have been brought to try to protect AI-created works directly, with the AI itself being named as the author (for copyrights) or inventor (for patents). While the U.S. courts have so far rejected such attempts to grant IP rights to directly machine authors and inventors, the situation in other countries is not so clear. More difficult issues, however, concern the extent to which a human can claim authorship or inventorship despite having obtained substantial assistance from an AI. Here, the legal answers inside and outside the U.S. appear to be nuanced. The other branch of issues—those concerning infringement liability for the training and use of AIs—are now being litigated in enormously important suits brought by content generators such as the New York Times, Sony and Universal against AI companies such as OpenAI and Microsoft. This seminar will examine the rapidly evolving law and policy related to these issues both in the United States and in foreign countries. While it will focus on copyright and patent law, the seminar will also consider the implications of AI on other branches of IP law, including Trademark, Trade Secret and Name-Image-and-Likeness rights. For students seeking to practice in the creative industries, the seminar will be an extremely valuable introduction into some of the most challenging and consequential legal issues of the present and the future.