Alghero conference examines AI impact on copyright and art

A conference held at Lo Quarter in Alghero, organized by the Istituto Artistico Musicale ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ and supported by Academia Cremonensis, addressed the challenges generative artificial intelligence poses to artistic and musical creation.

Legal experts Ivan Demuro and Maria Paola Pinna discussed the fundamental nature of copyright, noting that both continental ‘personality imprint’ models and Anglo-American ‘originality’ standards traditionally require a human creator. The rise of generative AI challenges this principle, as machines produce high-quality content without a traditional creative subject. The central legal question raised was whether protection exists if no human has significantly imprinted their personal vision onto a work.

Professor Fabio Perrone of Academia Cremonensis examined the impact on the music industry, referencing cases such as the use of AI to isolate John Lennon’s voice for the Beatles' song ‘Now and Then’.