Using generative AI
The Copyright Act and other Australian legislation currently doesn't include direction around AI-generated material, however there is a requirement for a human author for copyright ownership (see Requirements for copyright protection above).
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued guidance to state that there is usually not enough human involvement in the genAI creation process to generate any copyright protection - it is the algorithm doing the 'creative' work and copyright can only be held by humans. For more on their current advice around copyrightability for genAI outputs, visit Copyright for AI outputs on the Copyright for generative AI page.
While Australia shares some characteristics with the U.S. around copyright, such as extended copyright duration and a requirement for human authorship, there is no direction on genAI in our legislation as yet. It has, however, already been suggested in multiple legal opinion pieces that AI-generated works will not be protected in Australia.
The discussion around how creators can therefore use genAI and still have at least some ownership/copyright over the outputs is still an evolving space, but the suggestion is that the more of your own work and creative expression you can inject into genAI outputs, the more likely they may be copyrightable. Note that issues around substantial similarity to existing works can be a problem when using genAI.
More information on genAI inputs, outputs, and use of copyrighted works can be found on our Copyright for generative AI page.
Have a question? Contact the Copyright Advisor
Further reading:
- This is not a bicycle: Human creativity and generative AI [Creative Commons]
- The complex world of style, copyright, and generative AI [Creative Commons]
- AI copyright infringement: Move fast and steal things [CoinGeek]
- The training wheels are off: The copyright implications of training generative AI [Lexology]
- ChatGPT and copyright: The ultimate appropriation [Techpolicy.press]
- Glaze: Protecting artists from style mimicry [University of Chicago]
- Preventing Stable Diffusion ‘copyright infringement’ by poisoning the source data [Metaphysic]
Note that some of the above links contain U.S. copyright information, but the general principles are still applicable. Any mention of 'fair use' will not apply in Australia.
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