GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COPYRIGHT

Nebojša Jerinić; Sofija Vujičić Vukićević

doi:10.51738/kpolisa.2026.1r.njsvv

Authors

Nebojša Jerinić Beogradska akademija poslovnih i umetničkih strukovnih studija
Sofija Vujičić Vukićević Belgrade Business and Arts Academy of Applied Studies https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4880-3675

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51738/kpolisa.2026.1r.njsvv

Keywords:

copyright, generative artificial intelligence (AI), originality, spiritual creation, authorship

Abstract

The rise of generative artificial intelligence has intensified the debate on whether AI generated content qualifies for copyright protection. In legal systems that define a copyright work as an original intellectual or spiritual creation of an author, the question is whether AI generated outputs satisfy the core requirements of authorship, originality, and expression in a specific form. This paper examines the concept of a copyright work under the Law on Copyright and Related Rights and relevant European Union case law, particularly the standard of “the author’s own intellectual creation” developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The analysis argues that originality in copyright law requires free and creative choices made by a human author. While generative AI systems can produce statistically novel and formally structured outputs, such outputs lack the personal intellectual contribution necessary for copyright protection unless a human exercises decisive creative control. The paper concludes that copyright protection cannot be extended to purely AI generated content without undermining the conceptual foundations of authorship and originality in copyright law.

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