Adapting to AI: Copyright Law Will Catch Up, as it Always Has

Public discourse over the last few months illustrates the important role IP protections play in our society. Much of this has centered on the impact of new technologies, especially those powered by AI.

As new technologies enter the market, the government reacts. Before shaping reactionary IP regulation and legislation, however, lawmakers must understand both the technology and the rights it implicates. Then they must grapple with the great dilemma of IP law: how to promote innovation while still protecting earlier works. Fortunately, this process isn’t unique to AI. American IP law has adapted to numerous innovations over the years and can do so again now.

Learning from the Past: Copyrights on Computer Programs

Copyright law protects expressions of ideas from unauthorized copying. This made the application of copyright law to the first software programs unclear, since software serves as a functional expression of underlying ideas and often requires copies to function. In 1974, Congress responded to this lack of clarity by establishing the Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU). CONTU ultimately decided that computer programs were protectible forms of expression that users could permissibly copy in certain circumstances. Congress officially extended copyright protection to computer programs with the Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

To read the full article, please click here.