Copyright Borders in the Era of AI: Reconsidering the Concept of Free Use

Abstract

The article examines current issue of legal qualifying use of copyright objects in artificial intelligence training. The author substantiates the need to amend the Civil Code of the Russian Federation by establishing a special case of free use of works for the purpose of training neural networks, including data collection. Based on the analysis of foreign experience and judicial practice, the author concludes that the use of works in the intellectual analysis of texts and data in digital form, including for the purpose of training neural networks, should be recognized as lawful provided that the form of the works is not perceived by human senses. It is proposed to extend this exception to any works in the public domain, including materials from the Internet and closed databases to which developers have obtained legal access. The paper substantiates the inexpediency of introducing a fee for the use of works in the process mentioned, as this may lead to a decrease in investment in technology development and complicate the process of training neural networks. At the same time, permissible and impermissible cases of use are clearly delimited: internal memorization of materials is not considered a violation, however, content generation with reproduction of significant parts of protected works is qualified as a violation of exclusive rights. It is substantiated the generation of works in the style of a particular author during neural network training based on his works may also constitute a violation of exclusive rights. Particular attention is paid to issues of liability for violations. The author proposes a differentiated approach according to which both the developer of the neural network and the user may be held liable, depending on the specific circumstances of the case. The study emphasizes the approach proposed will maintain a balance between protecting the rights of content creators and the need to develop AI technologies are important for solving global challenges in various spheres of public life.