Text and Data Mining Exception in South America: A Way to Foster AI Development in the Region

Abstract

Abstract In 2015, authors wondered if Europe was falling behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) race because of the lack of a text and data mining (TDM) exception. What can then be said for South America? Copyright regimes and their interaction with the development of digital technologies on this continent have been overlooked by authors. This paper intends to start filling this gap by mapping the current state of copyright exceptions that serve computational analysis in South America. After reviewing the copyright regimes of the five largest economies of the region (i.e. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru), I concluded that they are not prepared for digital research techniques such as text and data mining. Researchers in these countries are at a competitive disadvantage, as rigid and outdated copyright regimes act as a constraint against keeping pace with the latest developments in subsequent years. If policymakers want to develop their nations’ AI capabilities, as many governments and international organizations claim they do, they will need to look for a more flexible and enabling approach to copyright.