Copyright Ownership and Legal Challenges of Works Generated by Artificial Intelligence

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has driven a new round of scientific and technological revolution. AI, leveraging neural networks, generates artistic works that circulate globally through the Internet. However, the international community lacks consensus on the copyright ownership for AI-generated work, hindering global fair competition in intellectual property. Currently, the discussions mainly focus on whether AI has the qualification of a subject of rights and how to determine the human copyright holder. This paper, using the comparative and the normative analysis method, examines the legislation and judicial practice of the international community in the ownership of copyright of AI-generated works. It concludes that copyright should vest in human subjects, and further proposes a solution to regard the users of AI as the object of copyright ownership. It also emphasizes strengthening the international coordination of the copyright ownership system for AI-generated works.