Decoding developer authorship: Framing authorship in European Union copyright law in the age of generative AI

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines whether the developers of generative artificial intelligence (GENAI) systems can, and should, be recognised as authors under EU copyright framework for the images generated by their systems. Technological advances over the past decade have redefined traditional conceptions of creativity and copyright in ways that current legislation never anticipated. This study addresses a significant research gap, as previous studies have primarily focused on recognising the systems and their users as authors, while the copyright interests of developers have received limited attention. The research is presented in three parts. The first part is technical in nature and examines the choices that developers can make during the development process of image generation systems. The second part outlines the legal norms that constitute the EU framework for authorship, with a primary focus on the InfoSoc Directive and the case law of the European Court of Justice. Subsequently, these legal norms are applied to a developer's scenario. The aim is to establish whether the development process enables developers to exercise the necessary free and creative choices to be recognised as authors of the images produced by their generative systems with user input. This systematic review shows that, although many choices are technical in nature, developers often exercise significant creative discretion. However, the system's design and the absence of direct causality between the developer's input and the final image can complicate their copyright claims. The analysis also includes the impact of user autonomy on the assertion of developers' free and creative choices. The third part discusses whether classical justification theories such as utilitarianism, labour theory and personality theory support the recognition of developers as authors. To answer this question, it examines under what conditions each theory justifies the rights that EU copyright law entails, and to what ex-tent the rights of developers fulfil these conditions. The basis of the investigation reveals that, from a utilitarian perspective, recognising developers' rights can be justified when the economic incentives from GENAI systems are in-sufficient to stimulate investment, provided that the scope of protection re-mains proportional. Furthermore, labour theory suggests that significant work effort does not necessarily entitle one to full copyright protection, particularly when the indispensable contribution of the user is considered during the generation process. Lastly, it is concluded that personality theory only advocates recognition when the developer's creative idea is clearly defined through the system's fine-tuning and filtering processes.