Artificial Intelligence and Sui Generis Right: A Perspective for Copyright of Ukraine?

Abstract

This note explores the current state of and perspectives on the legal qualification of artificial intelligence (AI) outputs in Ukrainian copyright. The possible legal protection for AI-generated objects by granting sui generis intellectual property rights will be examined. As will be shown, AI remains a very challenging subject matter for legal regulation. This article seeks to identify the pros and cons of proposals in the Draft Law of Ukraine ‘On copyright and related rights’ on sui generis right relative to AI-generated objects. A comparative analysis of the EU Database Directive provisions is conducted regarding sui generis right to non-original databases. Investment theory will be considered as the only justification for a sui generis right protection of AI outputs aimed at the protection of substantial investments. The special criteria identifying the scope of the substantial investments in computer-generated objects are unclear in the Draft Law of Ukraine ‘On copyright and related rights’. The proposed provisions are considered premature since they cover the concept of fully autonomous AI. The article concludes that the adoption of the proposed provisions may lead to excessive legal protection, as a special category of protected object is not identified.