India’s government is moving to establish a statutory mechanism that would grant AI developers lawful access to copyrighted works in exchange for guaranteed remuneration to creators.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has proposed a framework that centers on a two-pronged approach: granting AI developers a statutory right to use any lawfully accessed copyright-protected material for training AI systems, while simultaneously mandating that copyright holders receive an "unwaivable right of equitable remuneration to copyright owners" for that use.
According to the DPIIT, the proposed system is intended to eliminate the legal ambiguity underlying the Asian News International (ANI) v. OpenAI lawsuit filed in 2024, replacing it with a mandatory statutory regime.
The mechanism would, in effect, transform the training of AI on protected content from a potential copyright violation into a regulated practice. The central legal question would no longer be whether the use is infringing but whether the AI developer has fulfilled the statutory payment obligations.
The proposal rests on a two-pillar structure: a statutory, automatic right for AI developers to use copyright-protected works, and a guaranteed statutory right for rights holders to receive fair compensation.
Royalties would be collected and distributed by a centralized, government-designated non-profit entity — a structure meant to protect small and independent creators who might be unable to negotiate licenses or effectively enforce an "opt-out" right.
The DPIIT emphasizes that the model seeks to balance the interests of technological innovation and the creative industries by ensuring both access to training data and sustainable income for creators.
In 2024, ANI sued OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement and unauthorized use of its content to train AI models. In early 2025, the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) — which includes several major Indian media organizations such as The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and NDTV — petitioned the Delhi High Court to join an ongoing proceeding against OpenAI for improperly using copyright content.
Source: MLex
