DPIIT plan: Licence for AI training on copyrighted works
The committee behind this proposal was formed by DPIIT, under the commerce & industry ministry, on April 28
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has proposed a mandatory blanket licence that will give AI developers the leeway to train their models on all lawfully accessed copyrighted content in India without needing individual permissions from creators. In return, people who own this content will receive statutory remuneration through a new central collecting entity, according to a government working paper on generative AI and copyright.
DPIIT has invited feedback within 30 days. A second working paper on whether AI-generated content itself can get copyright will be released later.
The committee behind this proposal was formed by DPIIT, under the commerce & industry ministry, on April 28. It was tasked with analysing the legal and policy issues around AI and copyright, and checking whether India’s current Copyright Act, 1957 is adequate for dealing with these challenges.
In a notification dated December 8, DPIIT said the use of copyrighted content for AI training is becoming a major concern, especially because companies often use books, news reports, music, art and other material without permission. The committee has now suggested that India adopt a mandatory blanket licence.
The working paper says AI companies won’t need to seek permission from individual creators, but they must pay into a central fund. A government-designated body will then distribute royalties to creators, including small, independent artists.
The committee also rejected the tech industry’s demand for a free “text and data mining exception,” arguing this would “undermine copyright” and leave creators without compensation or control. It said this model would especially harm smaller creators who may not even know how to opt out.
The proposal comes as the Delhi High Court is hearing India’s first major AI copyright case, ANI vs OpenAI, where ANI has alleged that OpenAI used its news content to train ChatGPT without permission.
The members of the committee include DPIIT additional secretary Himani Pande, DPIIT Director Simrat Kaur, IT ministry scientist Anurag Kumar, NASSCOM Technical Director Chockalingam M, NASSCOM Senior Manager for Public Policy Sudipto Bannerjee, IP attorney Ameet Datta, IP attorney Adarsh Ramanujan, and professor at the Campus Law Centre of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Raman Mittal.
