Licence To Train: Decoding India’s Plan To Solve The AI-Copyright Debate
by Gaurav Bagur · Inc42SUMMARY
- India’s proposed blanket licensing regime would allow AI developers and companies to train on copyrighted content in exchange for post-revenue royalties, aiming to balance creator rights with AI innovation
- Legal experts warn the model could strip creators of control over how their work is used, reward low-quality content at scale, and force AI firms to pay for largely irrelevant data
- With unclear mechanisms for tracking usage and distributing royalties, the proposal risks becoming a complex bureaucratic system unless refined through wider consultation
- Added to Saved Stories in Login
India has proposed what could be the world’s most ambitious move to make AI companies pay for the copyrighted content they use to train large language models (LLMs) and frontier models.
A recently published working paper by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has sparked debate after it recommended a new licensing regime that would let companies and developers train AI models on virtually any copyrighted material, if they procure the licence and agree to royalty terms.
Thus far, no such regulations exist and this is the first formal proposal in this regard. Coming from the DPIIT, which manages a lot of the Startup India engagements, the recommendations have resulted in some concerns. But what exactly is the DPIIT recommending? Here’s a quick glance:
- Blanket Access: AI developers and companies gain universal access to all copyrighted content for training purposes upon obtaining a single, blanket licence.
- Post-Revenue Royalty: Once the AI model begins generating revenue, the developer must pay a royalty to copyright holders based on pre-determined, fixed rates.
- Centralised Body: A proposed body would handle the complex task of collecting and distributing these royalties
In suggesting this major overhaul to India’s copyright laws, the government is seeking to placate major media houses and studios, many of whom have accused AI giants of unauthorised usage of copyrighted content for training.
But while the government is betting that this hybrid model can balance creator rights with tech innovation, legal experts have raised concerns that the proposal in its current form could strip creators of rights over how their work is used, reward content farms churning out junk and spawn a bureaucratic royalty-collection nightmare. What else is at stake? Let’s dive deeper.
The Cost Of Universal Access
While the intent to create a licence regime is commendable, some experts warn that the practical execution is fraught with flaws. The most immediate concern is the lack of control.