“Unraveling the Legal Labyrinth: Can AI Revolutionize Pharma Without Copyright Catastrophes?”
AI And Copyright: Three Key Challenges
The Pistoia Alliance’s research identified three hurdles associated with copyright that must be addressed to ensure AI is used compliantly and responsibly in life sciences.
First, there is significant regulatory complexity as AI copyright laws continue to evolve and vary widely across territories. For example, the EU AI Act introduced copyright transparency obligations, which will require AI model providers to publish detailed summaries of the content used to train models. While these regulations aim to increase transparency, they add to the already complex web of compliance requirements for pharma and clinical research organizations working across borders. Additionally, many countries have no legal framework explicitly defining whether AI-generated outputs can be copyrighted. For instance, the U.S. Copyright Office has explained that works created solely by AI without human authorship are not eligible for copyright protection. This ambiguity creates further uncertainty – if AI-generated content cannot be copyrighted, how can companies protect their AI-driven works?
