Legal and Ethical Analysis of the Use of Intellectual Property in Artworks Created by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Abstract
The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the production of visual art, raising unresolved questions about who, if anyone, holds rights over AI-generated artworks and whether the use of protected works to train AI models is lawful and fair. This study examines the legal status of AI-generated artworks under Indonesian copyright law and analyses the ethical issues surrounding their creation and commercial use. Employing normative juridical research with statute, conceptual, comparative, and case approaches, the study analyses Law Number 28 of 2014 on Copyright, related Indonesian regulations, selected foreign legal regimes and court decisions, and 25 recent scholarly sources. The findings show that Indonesian copyright law remains anthropocentric: the definitions of creator and work presuppose human intellectual activity, so purely machine-generated artworks fall outside protection, while works involving substantial human creative control may qualify. Comparative analysis reveals divergent approaches across jurisdictions. Ethically, the most pressing concerns are the absence of consent, attribution, and compensation for artists whose works are used as training data, together with the lack of transparency about AI involvement. The study proposes a graduated human-contribution model combined with input-stage obligations of transparency, opt-out, and benefit sharing as a basis for reforming Indonesian copyright law
Keywords
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