Highlight 10/2025: Rethinking Intellectual Property Laws in the Age of AI: Towards a Global Framework
Aadil Huque, 28 January 2025
“Artificial intelligence challenges the very notion of intellectual property, calling into question our traditional concept of authorship and ownership.” – Francis Gurry, Former Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
As AI systems become more autonomous and capable of creating content independently, traditional IP frameworks are being challenged to adapt to these new realities. There exists an inherent connection between artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP), encompassing both the AI itself and the outputs produced by it that qualify for IP protection. This prompts a debate on the ability of current intellectual property laws to incorporate AI-generated works into the frameworks of ownership and infringement of IP rights. IP law was developed historically around humans, and therefore, the ownership of copyright in cases where software generates creative works, without direct human involvement, raises questions about whether the creator of the program holds the rights or if the work enters the public domain.
The U.S. Copyright Office has wrestled with this dilemma. Some commentators argue that if there’s no human “spark,” the work shouldn’t qualify for protection. Others argue that coders and data scientists invest real ingenuity in designing their AI systems, so it makes sense to grant them rights even if the ultimate output is, strictly speaking, machine-generated. No perfect solution has emerged yet, leaving creators and investors uncertain about how to protect their labour. This confusion is magnified when we consider AI’s global reach. A single model can be trained in one country, licensed to users on the other side of the world, and produce content that appears in countless markets. It can also create a fragmented regulatory framework, hindering global collaboration on challenges like pandemics, climate research, and security.
Multilateralism endorse a key role in an AI driven world, and achieving functional interoperability of IP systems globally necessitates multilateral collaboration. Secondly, a function of the IP system is to guarantee equitable competition. Multilateral rule-making is an effective and beneficial approach to do this. Given that IP will serve as a primary arena for future competition, robust global collaboration is needed. The third reason is that technology is ever advancing at an accelerated pace. In this setting, multilateralism is a crucial vehicle for facilitating capacity building and knowledge sharing to prevent the exacerbation of existing technological disparities. That presents a genuine challenge.
For example, the “Artificial Intelligence Act” adopted by the EU parliament which will become fully applicable by 2026,introduces a comprehensive framework to be applied to the development and use of AI tools. However, the main text of the law does not tackle the specific issue of ownership over works created through generative AI tools. If EU lawmakers incorporate guidelines on machine-generated inventions and creative works, they might nudge other countries to adopt comparable regulations, encouraging consistency on a global scale.
One fundamental question drives all these initiatives: How can we create a legal system that promotes innovation and economic development without sacrificing human involvement or leaving innovators in the dark? The overarching question on the impact of AI on the categories and concepts of IP is occurring during a period when global efforts in multilateral rule-making are at their lowest in the past seven decades. This issue is significant and extends beyond IP. However it particularly requires resolution in this domain, as IP is fundamentally a worldwide phenomenon; technology is universal, as are the accompanying patent data. Patents seldom pertain to a singular jurisdiction. Therefore, it is imperative to establish worldwide solutions that guarantee at a minimum functional interoperability. In conclusion, global cooperation, directed by organizations like as the UN and the EU and bolstered by specialized bodies like WIPO, will be essential in establishing regulations that respect human innovation, foster equitable competition, and advocate for the appropriate utilization of AI.
Aadil Huque, Highlight 10/2025 – Highlight 10/2025: Rethinking Intellectual Property Laws in the Age of AI: Towards a Global Framework, 28 January 2025, available at www.meig.ch
The views expressed in the MEIG Highlights are personal to the authors and neither reflect the positions of the MEIG Programme nor those of the University of Geneva.