One (innovation) flew over the law’s head: The intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright

• Citation: (2023) IPLJ 72
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v11/a4
• Published date: 18 January 2024
• Pages: 72-87
• Author: Khan, R.
• Date: 18 January 2024

72

https://doi.org/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v11/a4

ONE (I NNOVATION) FLEW

OVER THE LAW’S HEAD: THE

INTERSECTION OF ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE AND COPYR IGHT

 

LLM Candidate, Uni versity of Cape Town; Candidate Legal Practit ioner, Smith

Tabata Buchanan Boyes (STBB)

  

LLM Candidate, Uni versity of Cape Town; Research Assistant, DS I-NRF South

African Researc h Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Intellectu al Property, Innovation and

Development

ABST RACT

   

     

Copyright Act 98 of 1978. The Act prov ides that authorship vests di fferently, depending

on the type of work i n question ie a work recognis ed by s 2 of the Act. The article see ks to

provide insight i nto the existing jur isprudence su rrounding AI a nd copyright in the Sout h

African co ntext. Moreover, it relies on prevailing lo cal jurisprudence t o show that South

Africa may la ck an adequate legal st ructure to t ackle the futu re implications of con ferring

       

regions such as Ch ina and draws on Ginsbu rg’s legal tests for au thorship. The article’s

focus is prima rily on South African l aw in its current state, w ith reference to other legal

jurisdict ions and the future.

     

Africa; Ch ina; India

  

  

intelligence (AI), robotics, the Inter net of Things and biotechnology can have

on our economic and societal st ructures is a subject at tracting intense sc rutiny.

 

(4IR) in 2016 by the World Economic Forum founder, Klaus Schwab.1 In line

with this perspe ctive, the scale, extent and intricacy of technologies in the

4IR is believed to be so profound and extensive that it is anticipated to t rigger

* LLB (Cape Town).

** LLB (UK). Thi s research was done under t he auspices of the SARChI Chai r: Intellectual

Propert y, Innovation and Developm ent, University of Cap e Town. This work is based on re search

supporte d in part by the National Rese arch Foundation (NR F) of South Africa (Grant num ber:

115716). Any opinio n, finding and conclusion o r recommendation expre ssed in this material i s

that of the author s and the NRF does not a ccept any liability i n this regard.

1 The Fourth I ndustrial Revolut ion, by Klaus Schwab (n.d.) available at https://www.weforum.org/

about/the-fourth-i ndustrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab (accessed 13 December 2023).

(2023) IPLJ 72

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

https://doi.org/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v11/a4

transformative shif ts across every aspect of human exis tence. A key aspect

of the 4IR concept is the merging or am algamation of these technologies,

essentially the ‘blurr ing of boundaries’ between physical, biological and

digital systems.2 The advance ments in 4IR have introduced fresh prospect s

and dilemmas th roughout global economies and societies. Ginsburg a nd

Budiardjo note that, thr oughout history, the emergence of new technologies

tested the concept of authorsh ip, and in response the courts have endeavoured

to clarify copyr ight’s foundational pri nciples.3 Today, as our world becomes

increasingly interc onnected and reliant on innovative technologies,4 a cr itical

concern has ar isen regarding the impacts of generative AI on g lobal copyright

law. Copyright as governed in South Afr ica by the Copyright Act 98 of 1978

(the Act)5 refers to the legal r ight that protects intellectual creat ions of the

human mind, i ncluding, but not limited to, computer programs, a rt, music and

literature.

The discussion sur rounding intellectu al property right s (IPRs) – particularly

copyright and AI – is not new. Extensive scholarly literatu re that approaches

the subject from various a ngles is readily available. Therefore, this article

will not address t he issue of IPRs. However, it would be unwise to set aside

that discussion in its tota lity. Hardman and Housel6 propose a sui generis

approach, citing the cur rent IPR framework as inadequate t o address the

major obstacles created by generative AI works. I n contrast, Rens et al7 take



copyright legislation to clarif y that there is no copyright in AI out puts. The

age of AI indeed requires a c ontemporaneous legal perspective to avoid legal

uncertai nty and socio-economic mayhem.8 Taking cogn isance of these views,

the primar y focus of this article is whether works created by generat ive AI

meet the established pri nciples of authorship through the copyright legislation

and common law in South Af rica. Additionally, this article considers whether

2 Ibid.

3 JC Ginsburg & LA Budiardjo ‘Authors an d machines’ (2019) 34(2) Berkeley Technology Law

Journal 343 –448.

4 M Knell ‘The digital r evolution and digitalized net work society’ (2021) 2 Rev Evol Polit Econ

9–25, available at htt ps://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-021-00037-4.

5 Copyright Act 98 of 1978; S Munzer (ed) New Essa ys in the Legal and Political Th eories of

Property (2001) 168–199; S Stokes Art and Copyright 2 e d (2012) 24–71; L Tong ‘Copyright

protection for co mputer programs in Sout h Africa: Aspects of su i generis categorization’

(2009) 12 The Journal of World In tellectual Proper ty 266–296.

6 B Hardman & J Hou sel ‘A sui generis a pproach to the protection of A I-generated works:

Balancing in novation and authorship’ (30 Augu st 2023) available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com /

abst ract= 4557004.

7 A Rens Generative AI and Sustainable Creativity Resear ch ICT Africa, 21 July 2023, available

at https://researchictafrica.net/publication/ai-and-intellectual-property-brief-2/.

8 R Reed ‘AI created a s ong mimicking the work of Dr ake and The Weeknd. What doe s that

mean for copyr ight law?’ Harvard Law Today, 2 May 2023, available at htt ps://hls.harvard.

edu/today/ai-created-a-song-mimicki ng-the-work-of-drake-and-the -weeknd-what-does-that-

mean-for-copyr ight-law/ (accessed 15 July 2023); H Biermann ‘Artif icial intelligence – rea l

copyright?’ ENSAfrica, 6 April 2 020, available at https://www ensaf rica.com/news/detai l/2447/

artif icial-intelligence-rea l-copyright (accessed 12 July 202 3); A Shoaib ‘This i s why comedian

Sarah Silver man is suing OpenA I, the company behind Cha tGPT’ Business Insider, 9 July

2023, available at https://www.busines sinsider.com/why-comedian-sa rah-silverman-is-sui ng-

ONE (INNOVATION) FLEW OVER THE LAW’S HEAD:

THE INTERSECTION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COPYRIGHT 73

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