India Moves to Regulate AI Training Content Fees

India’s government is advocating for AI companies to compensate for content used in model training, but only after they generate revenue. This suggestion came from a recently released paper by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The report highlights issues around unpaid use of copyrighted materials and ongoing fair use debates. Offering a solution, the paper suggests a ‘blanket license’ model coupled with royalties post-commercialization, and proposes a centralized system for royalty collection and distribution. Additionally, the paper recommends forming a ‘Works Database for AI training royalties’ for content creators to claim compensation. Historical parallels such as performance rights organizations illustrate potential frameworks for this proposal. India’s multi-lingual and diverse media landscape presents unique challenges in standardizing such a system, which, if implemented, could facilitate fair compensation for content creators while promoting AI development.