India Forms Expert Panel to Review Copyright Law in Wake of AI Legal Battles

India has convened an eight-member expert panel to review the Copyright Act of 1957 and assess whether it adequately addresses artificial intelligence-related disputes, amid ongoing litigation against OpenAI by major Indian news publishers.

The secret memo, reviewed by Reuters, outlines how the Ministry of Commerce has tasked intellectual property lawyers, government officials, and tech executives to examine legal and policy challenges related to the use of copyrighted content by AI models like ChatGPT.

The move comes in response to a pending high court case in New Delhi filed by prominent media entities such as NDTV, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and members of the Digital News Publishers Association. The plaintiffs accuse OpenAI of using their content without authorization to train ChatGPT, which they argue constitutes copyright infringement.

OpenAI has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that it uses publicly available data and offers an opt-out mechanism for websites. The company maintains that its practices do not breach Indian copyright law.

The panel’s mandate includes reviewing the scope and interpretation of existing laws, evaluating how global copyright trends intersect with AI, and delivering recommendations for legal updates or clarifications to the government.

India joins a growing list of countries — including the U.S., EU members, and Japan — grappling with how to regulate AI training data in a way that balances innovation, creator rights, and fair use.