Reconceptualizing the Protection of AI-Generated Works in the Digital Age: An Analysis of the Intellectual Property Laws in Nigeria and the United States

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, it has become increasingly common for AI systems to create original works such as art, music, and literature. However, the question of who owns the copyright in such works and how they can be protected under intellectual property (IP) laws remains a complex and contentious issue. In addition, issues around the eligibility of AI-generated works for protection also arise, as does the protection of such works in the digital age, where copying without attribution is rampant. The debate continues to this day as more generative AI tools are introduced to the world, the most recent being OpenAI’s ChatGPT4, and now there is the talk of ChatGPT5. AI is capable of producing content based on the vast amounts of data available to it. This paper explores and compares the IP laws in Nigeria and the United States as they relate to protecting AI-generated works in the digital age. The paper will analyse the legal frameworks in both countries and consider the challenges and opportunities posed by AI-generated works for copyright law. It will further do a comparative analysis of the approaches adopted by both jurisdictions in protecting AIgenerated content. The research finds that the protection of AIgenerated works in both jurisdictions is quite problematic due to the principle of authorship being attributable to only humans. The paper suggests adopting best practices by both jurisdictions to aid in the protection of AI-generated works.