Can AI Claim Copyright for Original Work? A Question of Authorship

Gist The Indian Copyright Office recently rejected an application seeking to register an Artificial Intelligence system as the sole author of an original artwork. While the office acknowledged that the AI-generated image possessed sufficient originality for copyright protection, it ruled that an AI lacks the legal personhood required to hold authorship rights or responsibilities under Indian law. This decision establishes a crucial precedent in Indian intellectual property law, clarifying that an AI acts merely as a technological tool, and only a human or recognised juristic entity can be legally designated as the author who "causes the work to be created." Background The statutory framework governing intellectual property of this nature in India is the Copyright Act, 1957 , which regulates the originality, authorship, and ownership of creative works. Under Section 13 of the Act, copyright protection is extended to original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works. Because the Act does not strictly define "originality", Indian copyright jurisprudence relies on the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak , which established that a work must demonstrate a…