ĐIỀU KIỆN PHÁT SINH QUYỀN TÁC GIẢ ĐỐI VỚI TÁC PHẨM DO TRÍ TUỆ NHÂN TẠO TẠO RA THEO NGHỊ ĐỊNH 134/202

Legal situation: Dear Lawyer, I recently used artificial intelligence (AI) painting software to generate a collection of very beautiful artworks. I only needed to input a few descriptive text prompts, and the AI automatically generated the complete paintings. I would like to register the copyright for these paintings but am unsure if it is possible. Could you please clarify this for me? Thank you, Lawyer. 

Response: Thank You for your trust and for sending a question to FDVN Law Firm (“FDVN”). After researching applicable laws, FDVN provides the following discussion: 

Pursuant to Article 4 of Decree No. 134/2026/ND-CP amendment to Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP elaborating the emergence of copyright and related rights if subjects of copyright, related right protection are created via the use of AI system as follows: 

+ Humans make significant and decisive contribution in creating works, fixing or executing performances, sound recordings, video recordings, broadcasting programs, including: Providing original input data, technical parameters or developing design dossiers in case of computer programs; establishing command prompts to control AI system; assessing, choosing, editing, interfering, or interpreting results created by AI system; choosing, arranging, organizing contents, methods for displaying subjects of copyright, related right protection; making decisions indicative of creative, aesthetic, or qualification intentions; making final decisions, ensuring that results accurately reflect their ideas rather than random or automatic arrangement of the algorithm; 

+ Humans are responsible for contents and legitimacy of subjects of copyright, related right that they create via the use of AI system; 

+ Copyright and related rights of subjects used as input data in AI system must not be infringed upon.

Therefore, according to the law, the AI-generated works shall be protected and granted copyright if it meets 03 significant conditions prescribed in the law as follows: 

(i) Humans must make significant and decisive contributions in creating works (such as building complex prompts, evaluating, selecting, adjusting multiple rounds, and deciding the final results); 

(ii) Humans are responsible for the work’s content and legality; 

(iii) The use of AI must not infringe the copyright of subjects used as input data. 

Therefore, regarding Your case, You only used simple prompts and let AI generate the works without any interference or creative adjustment. This does not emphasize humans’ main role during the creation of works, as the prompts were simple, and the final results are decided by an AI algorithm, not by You. Additionally, You also can not ensure whether the source of AI training data violated others’ copyright, since AI is normally trained by an enormous amount of data, including many works with copyright without permission. 

As a result, paintings created automatically by AI from simple prompts and not meeting 03 conditions mentioned above in accordance with the law may not be protected by Vietnamese law. 

Above is FDVN’s consultancy opinion related to Your consultancy request based on the research of applicable laws. We hope that FDVN’s legal opinion shall be useful for You.