New Delhi, Dec. 16 -- Last week, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) released a working paper on 'Generative AI and Copyright,' recommending a 'hybrid model' that it claims will balance the need to promote AI development with creator rights.

It suggests that AI companies in India should pay a mandatory blanket licence fee (a percentage of their global revenue) for using copyrighted materials to train their models. It recommends the establishment of a body called the Copyright Royalties Collective for AI Training (CRCAT) that will collect licence fees from AI developers for distribution to registered creators through existing Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).

While at first blush this might seem ...