MusicLaw - Legal Challenges posed by AI Generated Music
A Comparative study of Copyright Laws of China, India, Norway, USA and UK, to develop suitable Global Legal Framework specifically for AI Generated Music
This project is funded by Horizon Europe
Project Period: 01.09.2025-31.08.2027
Project ID number: 101205429
Project leader: Dr. Karan Choudhary
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) with its ability to generate music popularly known as AI Music, has potential to permanently change the music landscape. It presents us with both unprecedented opportunities and challenges - opportunities such as democratising music creation, increasing accessibility by reducing music production costs and time. It also opens pandora’s box of legal challenges such as copyrightability of AI Music, legal concerns at the input stage i.e. training of AI Music Engines/Models, at the output stage i.e. generation of AI Music and others. These legal challenges are not confined to a particular country or geographical area but are of global concern, demanding concerted global effort to arrive at global solution.
The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) comprising of 29 members including European Union, USA, United Kingdom and India, have highlighted need for exploring and deeper scrutiny of inter-alia various dimensions of AI including its legality and governance issues. Specifically for Europe, addressing these legal challenges will assist in ensuring secure, safe and sustainable digital transformation that puts people at the center, in line with core EU values and fundamental rights. AI music engines such as Suno and Udio are already in public domain. It becomes pivotal at this juncture, to explore, identify and address legal challenges posed by AI Music. Various countries are re-visiting, re-thinking and amending their copyright laws in light of the increasing AI capabilities.
This postdoctoral project aims to conduct international, interdisciplinary and comparative study of the music copyright law using novel research methods, to fill the existing void, by developing first of its kind international legal framework specific to AI Music that accommodates the evolving dynamics of music ecosystem. It will also strengthen the 5 Pillars of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development around which 17 SDG's are structured.