India's AI-copyright panel stalls, second policy paper months overdue
A government AI-copyright committee has not met since June and has failed to deliver its promised second working paper, despite an earlier February deadline.
The DPIIT created an AI-copyright committee on 28 April 2025 to assess whether India's 1957 Copyright Act can address AI-related legal questions. The panel produced its first working paper in December 2025, recommending a mandatory blanket licence for AI developers and a central collecting body for royalties. It promised a second paper on AI-generated content within two months, but the committee has not convened since June and no draft has been released, leaving the timeline undefined.
Insiders describe the government's enthusiasm as having waned, with meetings becoming sporadic and no revised deadline issued. The first report's licence proposal was opened for public comment, but the deadline passed without a final version. In parallel, the Delhi High Court issued an interim order in July, deeming OpenAI's use of ANI news material as fair dealing, a decision now under appeal. Committee members include DPIIT officials Himani Pande and Simrat Kaur, IT ministry scientist Anurag Kumar, NASSCOM representatives Chockalingam M and Sudipto Bannerjee, IP lawyers Ameet Datta and Adarsh Ramanujan, and Delhi University professor Raman Mittal.
Why it matters
The delay stalls India's effort to regulate AI use of copyrighted material, affecting creators, tech firms, and future legal standards.
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