The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence is reshaping debates around copyright, accessibility, and innovation. In a recent article published in The Hindu, Pranesh Prakash, Co-Principal Investigator for LIRNEasia’s D4D Asia Project, discusses how copyright law must adapt to the realities of AI-driven technologies in a way that balances creators’ rights with the public interest. He argues that copyright has gradually drifted from its original purpose and has become a rigid system that sometimes restricts the creation and access to knowledge, innovation, and broader social benefit.
As AI systems depend on large volumes of training data, which often includes copyrighted works, this has created new tensions within existing legal frameworks. Drawing from LIRNEasia’s research on data governance across seven countries in South and Southeast Asia, he highlights that copyright frameworks in several countries create legal uncertainty for web search engines and AI training. He argues that AI training should be understood primarily as data analysis rather than creative copying, and that flexible legal exceptions, such as text and data mining provisions, are essential for supporting technological development.
He emphasizes the need to modernize copyright law for the 21st century so that it aligns with the public interest and responds to contemporary technological realities, supporting innovation and creativity rather than restricting beneficial technologies.
Read the full article published in The Hindu on February 19.
