What Indian Creators Should Know Before They Use Generative AI

India’s creative community—from writers and designers to meme pages and ad agencies—has embraced generative AI tools.

- TDG NETWORK

These tools raise thorny copyright questions: when is Algenerated output protected? Can you train on copyrighted works? What if you clone a celebrity’s voice? The Centre’s 2025 working paper on Generative AI and Copyright proposes a hybrid licensing model to address these questions. It rejects blanket exceptions and optout text and datamining regimes, arguing that unregulated AI training would harm creators by undermining incentives. Instead, the paper recommends a mandatory blanket licence with royalties’ payable upon commercialisation; a government appointed ratesetting committee would determine royalty rates, and a central entity would collect and distribute payments to rights holders. The model offers legal certainty to developers while ensuring fair compensation for creators.

CREATOR CLINIC: SIX SCENARIOS