India wants AI companies to pay up for using copyrighted content
India's government is looking to make AI companies pay royalties when they use stuff like books, music, and images to train their models.
The new policy, revealed in December, would introduce a "blanket license" so creators get paid if their work helps power AI.
Why does this matter now?
Right now, Indian copyright law doesn't cover "text-and-data-mining"—basically the way AI learns from huge piles of online content.
Other countries like Japan and the EU already have rules for this.
Without clear laws here, it's a legal gray area for using copyrighted material in commercial AI.
How would it actually work?
The plan is called "One Nation One License One Payment." AI firms could access all legally available works but must pay royalties based on their revenue.
Payments would go to a new group (CRCAT), with rates set by a government panel and reviewed regularly.
What's next?
The proposal is open for public feedback right now. A forthcoming part of the working paper is expected to address whether AI-generated works can be copyrighted.
This comes as Indian news agency ANI recently sued OpenAI over allegedly using its content without permission—so these changes could have real impact soon.