The Globalization of Copyright Exceptions for AI Training

Authors

Matthew Sag, Emory University School of Law
Peter K. Yu, Texas A&M University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Journal Title

Emory Law Journal

ISSN

0094-4076

Abstract

Generative AI, machine learning and other computational uses of copyrighted works pose profound questions for copyright law. This article conducts of global survey of how different countries have attempted to answer these questions in relation to the unauthorized use of copyrighted works for training. Although the world has yet to achieve international consensus on this issue, an international equilibrium is emerging. Jurisdictions with common law and civil law traditions, and with varying economic conditions, technological capabilities, political systems, and cultural backgrounds, have found ways to reconcile copyright law and AI training. In this equilibrium, countries recognize that text data mining, computational data analysis, and AI training can be socially valuable and may not inherently prejudice the copyright holders’ legitimate interests. Such uses should therefore be allowed without express authorization in some, but not all, circumstances. We identify three forces driving toward this equilibrium: (1) the centrality of the idea-expression distinction; (2) global competition in AI; and (3) the race to the middle. However, we also address factors that may upset this emerging equilibrium, including ongoing copyright litigation, partnerships, and licensing deals in the United States as well as legislative and regulatory efforts in both the United States and the European Union, including the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act).One of the key lessons of our global survey is that, globally, the binary policy debate that assumes that TDM and AI training must be categorically condemned or applauded has been eclipsed by a more granular debate about the specific circumstances in which the unauthorized use of copyrighted works for AI training should be allowed or prohibited. Countries that have hesitated to modernize their copyright laws until now have several templates open to them and no more reason for hesitation.

First Page

1163

Last Page

1227

Num Pages

65

Volume Number

74

Issue Number

5

Publisher

Emory University School of Law

Recommended Citation

Matthew Sag & Peter K. Yu, The Globalization of Copyright Exceptions for AI Training, 74 Emory L.J. 1163 (2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2285

File Type

PDF