*

India mulling if copyright law needs changes in AI era

*

Film studios say AI companies must license content for

training

*

Tech companies say exceptions will help the AI industry

By Arpan Chaturvedi and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Hollywood and Bollywood

groups are lobbying an Indian panel for stricter copyright

protection that will prevent artificial intelligence firms from

using their intellectual property to train AI models, letters

show.

AI companies remain at loggerheads with content owners globally

and governments are fast developing regulations that lay down

rules for the new technology. While Japan gives broad exemptions

to AI firms in using copyrighted content, the European Union has

stricter rules that allow content owners to opt-out of such use.

The movie industry is particularly concerned that AI tools

could scrape their copyrighted videos, images and clips online -

like trailers and promos - and more critically ingest pirated

content onto their platforms.

India's current copyright law does not account for use by AI.

The government formed a panel this year consisting of lawyers,

government officials and industry executives to review if

existing copyright law is sufficient to tackle AI-related

disputes, and make recommendations.

WORRIED FILM STUDIOS LOBBYING HARD

Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents Warner

Bros, Paramount and Netflix ( NFLX ), and the Producers

Guild of India have argued India should not tinker with its

copyright law and instead promote a licencing regime.

In response to the panel's private inquiry on why India should

not allow blanket training exceptions to bolster AI innovation,

MPA India Managing Director Uday Singh said in an August 2

letter the move could "undermine the incentive to create new

works and erode copyright protection in India."

The Indian guild's CEO Nitin Tej Ahuja told the panel in his

letter "licensing copyrighted works is essential for creators'

revenue and business sustainability."

MPA declined to comment, while the guild did not respond to

Reuters queries on the letters, which are not public.

India's commerce ministry official Himani Pande, who chairs

the panel, did not respond to Reuters queries. The panel is

finalising its recommendations which it will present to senior

officials in coming weeks, a source with direct knowledge said.

INDIA'S VIBRANT MOVIE MARKET

India has one of the world's most vibrant film industries. A

Deloitte-MPA study in May said India's film, TV and online

content industry generated $13.1 billion in revenues last year,

growing 18% each year since 2019.

The deliberations come just when a Bollywood couple has gone to

court to challenge YouTube's AI policies after their manipulated

videos started spreading online.

The film studios' position is in contrast to the Business

Software Alliance, which represents AI firms like OpenAI, and

which argued in public submissions in July that New Delhi

should ensure exceptions to permit lawful AI use.

MPA members however remain concerned.

The association has said India should not consider allowing

use of content in AI models with an opt-out system as it will

put the burden of responsibility on the movie studios, a move

that could force them to individually track and block sharing of

their work on scores of AI platforms.

Such exceptions "would hinder future investments,

development of high-quality local content," MPA India said.

In September, Warner sued AI service Midjourney in Los Angeles

by saying it brazenly stole the studio's works to generate

images and videos of Batman, Superman, Bugs Bunny and other

copyrighted characters.

Midjourney maintains the way it trains its AI model amounts

to fair use.