The legal fact on AI-generated content ownership is that the question of who has the rights to it remains controversial and is still up for debate. While AI-generated content is becoming more prevalent, the question of whether it can have legal copyright protection remains unsettled, as it is unclear whether an AI model can be considered an author under copyright law. Therefore, the question of ownership of AI-generated content is still a gray area, and it is advisable for businesses to seek legal counsel before using or licensing such content.
No human author has the copyright over AI-generated content. But if we check the South Africas copyright act, it says whoever makes the arrangement for the creation of the AI-generated content is responsible and has ownership over the content. It is an intangible property right. If we consider the African act, there is one act that supports it. Here it is. “computer-generated”, in relation to a work, means that the work is generated by computer in circumstances such that there is no human author of the work” — Section 178, CDPA 1998. Well, if you still want to know who has the right over AI-generated content. The answer can be the person who makes arrangements for AI content creation.