THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE: A DOCTRINAL AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GENERATIVE AI, COPYRIGHT AUTHORSHIP, AND PERSONALITY RIGHTS IN INDIA

AUTHOR – AKANSHA TOPPO, STUDENT AT NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL MADHYA PRADESH

BEST CITATION – AKANSHA TOPPO, THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE: A DOCTRINAL AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GENERATIVE AI, COPYRIGHT AUTHORSHIP, AND PERSONALITY RIGHTS IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (3) OF 2026, PG. 648-654, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

The precipitous rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, exemplified by Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), has disrupted the ontological foundations of intellectual property law. This paper undertakes a doctrinal and comparative critique of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 in the wake of this algorithmic revolution. The study is divided into three thematic verticals. First, it scrutinizes the “Authorship Conundrum” by juxtaposing the Lockean “sweat of the brow” doctrine against the modern “modicum of creativity” standard established in Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak. It argues that Section 2(d)(vi) of the Copyright Act creates a legislative vacuum for autonomous AI works. Second, the paper navigates the “Personality Rights Crisis” triggered by Deepfakes. Through a forensic analysis of the Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India judgment, it evaluates whether the common law tort of passing off is a sufficient remedy for digital identity theft. Third, it examines the “Intermediary Liability” framework under the IT Rules, 2021, questioning whether safe harbour provisions should extend to algorithmic amplification of infringing content. Concluding with a comparative analysis of the US, UK, and EU jurisdictions, the paper proposes a sui generis “Data Rights Framework” that decouples human creativity from machine investment, advocating for a statutory amendment to recognize “AI-Assisted Works” as a distinct class of intellectual property.

Keywords: Generative AI, Copyright Authorship, Personality Rights, Deepfakes, Intermediary Liability, Eastern Book Company, Anil Kapoor Judgment.