58 Alongside its potential, artificial intelligence threatens to eliminate many jobs and it heralds a huge upheaval in many industries. In the meantime, amazing AI applications are tempting many to use them. Students write their papers using ChatCPT, photographers use AI to edit and shorten image processing, and artists use it to design products and to create artistic works. However, using AI applications also involves many challenges. One is related to the question of copyright of the AI products, that is, can these products - such as texts, photos, illustrations, musical works etc. - be considered works that are protected by copyright? Before we try to answer this important question, let us remember what we mean when we say “copyright.” The Israeli copyright law defines copyright as an exclusive right, limited in time, to use a work (or a significant part of it) in various manners such as copying, publication, public performance, broadcast, making it available to the public and more. This exclusive right exists for specific kinds of works and they are literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works and also records (which may be interpreted also as recordings), for which it is required that the work exists in some fixed form (that is, not as an ethereal concept that is preserved only in the mind of the creator). The concept of “work” is broad, and can include computer software, catalogs, texts, websites, photos, marketing videos, logos, designs and much more. It is important to remember that copyright is mainly a transferable asset and the copyright owners can transfer their rights in the work - for free or for payment, in its entirety or in part - in a written agreement. Alternatively, they can grant a license to use the work - exclusively or non-exclusively, in a limited or unlimited manner. Involvement of a human creator - essential to the legal outcome Let’s return to the key question of this article - can AI products be considered copyright- protected works? The Israeli copyright law determines the kinds of works eligible for copyright protection, and as stated, they are literary, artistic, dramatic, musical and records under one of the following conditions: the work was first published in Israel; at the time of the work’s creation, the creator was an Israeli citizen; or the creator’s regular residence is in Israel. The term “citizen” clearly implies that the creator cannot be a machine but must be a human being. But what happens in a situation when a person creates using artificial intelligence? Does it still meet the requirements of the law?
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