OTTAWA — As observers are looking to a slew of high-profile U.S. lawsuits that could determine if generative AI violates copyright, so is the federal government — which doesn’t know how Canadian copyright law applies to systems like ChatGPT. Martin launched last month in the United States against OpenAI is only the latest court case alleging generative artificial intelligence systems infringe copyright by using copyrighted works without permission. In Canada, it’s unclear how the Copyright Act applies to these systems, according to a briefing note from Canadian Heritage obtained through access to information. “Rights holders argue the use of unlicensed copyright-protected works in the training of AI models infringes their copyright, and that regulation is needed,” the briefing note outlined. “Many industry stakeholders wanting to promote innovation and technology will oppose any regulation of AI.
