About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


31 Auckland U. L. Rev. 237 (2025)
Creators or Coders - Who Does New Zealand's Copyright Law Protect? An Analysis of Whether Training Generative Artificial Intelligence Models on Copyrighted Works Infringes Copyright in New Zealand

handle is hein.journals/auck31 and id is 247 raw text is: Creators or Coders Who Does New Zealand's Copyright Law Protect? Creators or Coders - Who Does New Zealand's Copyright Law Protect? An Analysis of Whether Training Generative Artificial Intelligence Models on Copyrighted Works Infringes Copyright in New Zealand SOPHIE VONNIE REEDY-YOUNG* Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models are trained on copyrighted works, often without permission from the authors. Following the success of GenAI tools, creators are questioning whether this conduct infringes their copyright and asking the courts to hold model developers accountable for freely exploiting their works. An analysis of New Zealand's CopyrightAct 1994 reveals that training GenAI models on copyrighted works is likely to infringe copyright. This article proposes that the idea-expression dichotomy underpinning New Zealand's copyright law may offer a safe harbour for model developers to justify copying in the training process. This principle provides that copyrightprotection only extends to expressions, not ideas. Where the training process only copies functional and non-expressive elements ofworks, it may not fall within the statutory definition of copying. Although the idea- expression dichotomy may offer a theoretical justipcation for copying, it is unlikely to comfort model developers unless the courts adopt this position. GenAI is likely to play a central role in the future ofhow humans work, create and think. If legislators wish to legitimise the use of copyrighted works for training GenAI, statutory intervention is required. Legislators should weigh authors' interests in being compensated for the use of their works against the technological innovation offered by GenAI. Inaction by legislators places power in the hands of model developers to dictate the boundaries of their regulatory framework and enables the continued exploitation of copyrighted works without consequence. * BE(Hons)/LLB(Hons), University of Auckland. The author wishes to thank Associate Professor Rob Batty for his guidance and support. All errors are the author's own. 237