Hollywood and Bollywood groups are lobbying an Indian government panel for stricter copyright protection to prevent artificial intelligence firms from using their intellectual property to train AI models, as the movie industry raises concerns that AI tools could scrape copyrighted videos, images and clips online.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents Warner Bros, Paramount and Netflix, and the Producers Guild of India have argued India should not tinker with its copyright law and instead promote a licensing regime, reports Reuters. India’s current copyright law does not account for use by AI, with the government forming a panel this year consisting of lawyers, government officials and industry executives to review if the existing law is sufficient to tackle AI-related disputes.
Uday Singh, MPA India Managing Director, said in a 2 August letter to the panel that blanket training exceptions could “undermine the incentive to create new works and erode copyright protection in India”. The Indian guild’s Chief Executive Nitin Tej Ahuja told the panel: “Licensing copyrighted works is essential for creators’ revenue and business sustainability.”
The panel, chaired by commerce ministry official Himani Pande, is finalising recommendations which it will present to senior officials in the coming weeks, according to a source with direct knowledge. AI companies remain at loggerheads with content owners globally as governments develop regulations for the new technology. Japan has granted broad exemptions to AI firms for using copyrighted content, whereas the European Union has stricter rules that allow content owners to opt out.
India has one of the world’s most vibrant film industries, with a Deloitte-MPA study in May stating India’s film, television and online content industry generated $13.1 billion in revenues last year, growing 18% each year since 2019. The deliberations come as a Bollywood couple has gone to court to challenge YouTube’s AI policies after their manipulated videos started spreading online.
The film studios’ position contrasts with that of the Business Software Alliance, which represents AI firms, including OpenAI, and argued in public submissions in July that New Delhi should ensure exceptions to permit lawful AI use. MPA members remain concerned about opt-out systems, with MPA India stating such exceptions “would hinder future investments, development of high-quality local content.”
The association said India should not consider allowing the use of content in AI models with an opt-out system, as it will put the burden of responsibility on movie studios, forcing them to individually track and block the sharing of their work on scores of AI platforms.
