People often ask me "who owns intellectual property rights in AI-generated content?"
The answer is simple and complex at the same time:
New Zealand's Copyright Act 1994 states that the author of a "computer generated" artistic work is the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken. This means (subject to the below) that the owner of an AI-generated work in New Zealand is the person who inputs instructions into the AI to generate the content.
However, AI users need to take care. Generative AI engines are trained by large datasets including publicly available content from the open web. This creates risk because (1) the generated content may not be original (and therefore not capable of copyright protection) and (2) generated content may resemble existing works, raising concerns about copyright infringement.
It is important to remember that just because content is available on the open web, this doesn't necessarily mean it is the subject of an open license for other people to use or modify it.
The terms and conditions of some generative-AI platforms also specify that intellectual property rights in generated content vest with the platform.
AI users should take care to ensure generated content is sufficiently original and does not infringe on the works of another, including the platform used to generate it. Making further amendments to an initial draft of AI-generated content (without using AI) is one way to mitigate risk, to help ensure the content is original and not a copy of another person's work. Users may also look to use plagiarism detection tools or seek legal advice.
Above photo: An AI-generated photograph (probably not original enough for me to own!)