Copyright and Patent Laws for the Age of Artificial Intelligence

An online and in-person (for the University of Bristol Law School staff) book launch with Dr Eva Janeckova, author of Copyright and Patent Laws for the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Hart 2025).

‘I created an artwork and invented an invention, both with the aid of AI. Have I contributed anything creative in the process? Does it even matter for copyright in the artwork and grant of patent for the invention?’

This book responds to the need to distinguish human creations from those produced by AI for the purposes of copyright and patent protection. It does so by tracing human attributes of authorship and inventorship in statutory requirements for protection and ownership in European copyright and patent laws.

Its main contribution lies in exposing shortcomings in how the laws are applied in the UK, Germany, and France. It shows that the human origin of creations is traditionally inferred from their expressive form or technical character. Given the advancements in AI, such inferences are no longer legitimate. What is more, these shortcomings may eventually lead to granting copyright or patent protection where none is lawfully permitted or sufficiently justified. To remedy the situation, this book offers doctrinal and conceptual amendments and proposes law reforms to implement them.

Eva Janeckova is a lecturer in law at the University of Bristol. She will be joined in the conversation by Prof Justine Pila, Professor at the University of Oxford, Dr Patrick Goold, Reader at the City St George's, University of London and Dr Yin Harn Lee, Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol.