A legal analysis argues copyright law leaves it unclear who is accountable for AI art

Study title: From Authorship to Accountability - Rethinking Copyright Governance for AI-Generated Art

A legal study uses doctrinal and comparative methods to look at how generative AI strains copyright law. It focuses on the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, international copyright debates and Albania's Law No. 35/2016 on copyright and related rights.

Read the study abstract

This study examines how the rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence (AI) challenges traditional copyright law by shifting legal concerns beyond authorship and ownership toward transparency, disclosure, traceability, and accountability in AI-assisted artistic production.The study adopts a doctrinal and comparative legal methodology to analyse copyright principles, emerging regulatory frameworks, and policy developments relating to AI-generated content. Particular attention is given to the European U…

By the Truvace deskNovember 4, 20261 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 30/100 — Commentary, opinion, or narrative review · 1 independent sourcePeer-reviewedTRV-2026-2362· cite & verify

From Authorship to Accountability - Rethinking Copyright Governance for AI-Generated Art — "Samuel Johnson statue beside St Mary's in the Market Square" by ell brown is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.

In brief

The paper matters because AI-assisted art raises questions that authorship rules alone cannot answer, such as who bears responsibility when AI is involved. Its proposals are untested against real creators, policymakers, developers or Albanian court practice, so how well they would work in practice is uncertain.

Main points

The study argues legal concern is shifting from authorship and ownership toward transparency, disclosure, traceability and accountability.
It finds gaps in how responsibility is allocated among users, developers and platform providers.
It proposes mandatory disclosure of AI involvement and documentation of human creative contribution.
It also proposes stronger transparency standards and traceability measures for AI-generated artistic content.

The problem

Existing copyright regimes stay authorship-centred and give little guidance on who is accountable when AI contributes to art, leaving gaps in disclosure, traceability and responsibility among users, developers and platforms.

The rundown

The research analyses copyright principles, emerging regulatory frameworks and policy developments for AI-generated content. It gives particular attention to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, international copyright debates and the Albanian copyright law.

The authors conclude that accountability-based governance can complement traditional copyright doctrine. They say measures such as mandatory disclosure and traceability may strengthen legal certainty and improve copyright enforcement in AI-assisted creative settings.

The authors describe the work as one of the first to link transparency, disclosure, traceability and accountability principles to regulation of AI-generated art in Albanian and European legal contexts.