Navigating Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Recent guidelines issued by the US Copyright Office have drawn a critical line in the sand: works generated solely by artificial intelligence (AI) are not eligible for copyright protection. This development signals a pivotal moment for creative industries, including Africa’s burgeoning art ecosystem, as artists, galleries, collectors grapple with the evolving implications of AI on intellectual property.

Open AI logo Credit: Analytics Vidhya

The Erosion of “Authorship” in AI-Generated Works

The Copyright Office’s report underscores a fundamental principle: copyright protection hinges on perceptible human authorship. Generative AI, regardless of how sophisticated its prompts, lacks the requisite human control to claim authorship. This distinction becomes clear in examples like a Gemini-generated image of a cat smoking a pipe, where the AI ignored key instructions and injected unexpected elements, such as a cat’s incongruous human hand.

The unpredictability of such AI outputs contrasts sharply with the intentional spontaneity seen in human artistic methods, such as Jackson Pollock’s splatter techniques. While Pollock did not dictate every splatter’s exact position, his deliberate choice of colors, textures, and movements marked unmistakable human control—the hallmark of copyrightable art.

For African artists and creative businesses, these developments present both challenges and opportunities:

Redefining Creativity

Artists using AI tools like Midjourney or DALL-E must consider how much perceptible human intervention is embedded in their final works. Significant modification, rearrangement, or human-authored text paired with AI-generated visuals can secure copyright eligibility.

Protecting Artistic Integrity

The report’s acknowledgment of AI-driven appropriation parallels long-standing debates around cultural appropriation in art. African artists, whose works often draw from rich cultural traditions, must be vigilant about how generative platforms might diffuse or replicate their creative expressions without proper attribution.

Balancing Innovation with Legal Compliance

Galleries showcasing hybrid works—those blending AI and human creativity—must develop protocols to evaluate and document the extent of human contribution to avoid legal ambiguities surrounding ownership rights

Judge Gavel Credit: Wix

In an AI-driven landscape, the stakes are higher—courts must now consider whether machine-generated works meet this transformative threshold while accounting for the diffusion of countless digital artworks by generative platforms.

African legal systems, still evolving in their approach to intellectual property, have an opportunity to establish forward-thinking policies that protect creators while fostering innovation. As AI continues to reshape the creative landscape, proactive engagement from all stakeholders will be essential.

The intersection of AI and intellectual property offers a critical inflection point for Africa’s art community. By adopting strategic measures to navigate copyright complexities, African artists, galleries, collectors, and creative entrepreneurs can harness AI’s potential while safeguarding their creative legacy.