Technical Evidence
The Government of Canada invites views on technical aspects of AI technologies, including on the following questions:
- How does your organization access and collect copyright-protected content, and encode it in training datasets?
- How does your organization use training datasets to develop AI systems?
- In your area of knowledge or organization, what measures are taken to mitigate liability risks regarding AI-generated content infringing existing copyright-protected works?
- In your area of knowledge or organization, what is the involvement of humans in the development of AI systems?
- How do businesses and consumers use AI systems and AI-assisted and AI-generated content in your area of knowledge, work, or organization?
Text and Data Mining
The Government of Canada invites views on whether any clarification is needed on how the copyright framework applies to text and data mining (TDM) activities, notably on how and when rights holders could or should be compensated for the use of copyright-protected content as inputs in the development of AI. Although all comments are welcomed, the Government is particularly interested in receiving feedback on the following questions:
- What would more clarity around copyright and TDM in Canada mean for the AI industry and the creative industry?
- Are TDM activities being conducted in Canada? Why or why not?
- Are rights holders facing challenges in licensing their works for TDM activities? If so, what is the nature and extent of those challenges?
- What kind of copyright licenses for TDM activities are available, and do these licenses meet the needs of those conducting TDM activities?
- If the Government were to amend the Act to clarify the scope of permissible TDM activities, what should be its scope and safeguards? What would be the expected impact of such an exception on your industry and activities?
- Should there be any obligations on AI developers to keep records of or disclose what copyright-protected content was used in the training of AI systems?
- What level of remuneration would be appropriate for the use of a given work in TDM activities?
- Are there TDM approaches in other jurisdictions that could inform a Canadian consideration of this issue?
Authorship and Ownership of Works Generated by AI
The Government of Canada invites views on how the copyright framework should apply to AI-assisted and AI-generated content. Although all comments are welcomed, the Government is particularly interested in receiving feedback on the following questions:
- Is the uncertainty surrounding authorship or ownership of AI-assisted and AI-generated works and other subject matter impacting the development and adoption of AI technologies? If so, how?
- Should the Government propose any clarification or modification of the copyright ownership and authorship regimes in light of AI-assisted or AI-generated works? If so, how?
- Are there approaches in other jurisdictions that could inform a Canadian consideration of this issue?
Infringement and Liability regarding AI
The Government of Canada invites views on questions about copyright infringement and liability raised by AI, particularly since there is a lack of evidence currently available in this regard. Although all comments are welcomed, the Government is particularly interested in receiving feedback on the following questions:
- Are there concerns about existing legal tests for demonstrating that an AI-generated work infringes copyright (e.g., AI-generated works including complete reproductions or a substantial part of the works that were used in TDM, licensed or otherwise)?
- What are the barriers to determining whether an AI system accessed or copied a specific copyright-protected content when generating an infringing output?
- When commercialising AI applications, what measures are businesses taking to mitigate risks of liability for infringing AI-generated works?
- Should there be greater clarity on where liability lies when AI-generated works infringe existing copyright-protected works?
- Are there approaches in other jurisdictions that could inform a Canadian consideration of this issue?
Comments and Suggestions
Are there any other considerations or elements you wish to share about copyright policy related to AI?