The Future of Copyright: Luciano Daffarra on Why AI Demands Smarter Laws, Stronger Collaboration, and a Global Perspective
The future of copyright is no longer being shaped solely by lawmakers or technology companies. It is unfolding at the intersection of artificial intelligence, global regulation, creative rights, and an increasingly complex digital environment. Every advance in generative AI raises questions that reach well beyond the technology itself. Who owns machine-generated content? How should creators be compensated? Can legal systems built around territorial boundaries effectively govern technologies that operate across them?
These are not abstract legal debates. The answers will influence media, publishing, entertainment, research, and virtually every industry built on intellectual property. Few professionals have explored these issues with the depth and international perspective of Luciano Daffarra, Partner at C-LEX Studio Legale Internazionale. Drawing on decades of experience in copyright and intellectual property law, Daffarra believes the conversation must move beyond simplistic narratives that cast AI as either a threat or a savior. The real challenge, he argues, is developing legal frameworks that preserve human creativity while allowing technological progress to continue.
Copyright Is Not Disappearing, It Is Being Redefined
Much of today’s public discussion suggests that artificial intelligence is making copyright obsolete. Daffarra sees the situation quite differently.
“The intersection of generative AI and copyright law is no longer a theoretical debate,” he explains. “It is being shaped in courtrooms, boardrooms, and legislative chambers.”
The rise of AI does not signal the end of copyright. Instead, it represents one of the most significant shifts the field has experienced since the digital revolution. The growing number of disputes involving AI-generated content is not evidence that copyright has failed. It shows legal systems being tested by technologies they were never designed to regulate. For Daffarra, this is simply the latest phase in copyright’s long history of adaptation. From the printing press and broadcasting to the internet and digital streaming, copyright has evolved alongside every major technological breakthrough. Artificial intelligence is another chapter in that continuing story.
The objective, he argues, is not to choose between innovation and protection. The law must continue to safeguard creativity while adapting to new ways of producing, distributing, and consuming content.
The Case for Global Legal Harmonization
Among the most pressing issues Daffarra identifies is the widening divide between global technologies and fragmented legal systems. Artificial intelligence operates across jurisdictions, processes data internationally, and learns from content originating in countless countries. Copyright law, by contrast, remains largely territorial. National legislation varies considerably on matters such as data mining, licensing, platform liability, and authorship, creating growing uncertainty for creators, businesses, developers, and regulators alike.
“Modern technology is global by nature,” he notes. “Isolated national responses are no longer sufficient.”
Rather than adding another layer of fragmented regulation, Daffarra advocates greater international legal harmonization. Coordinated frameworks would clarify the responsibilities of AI developers, strengthen protections for rights holders, and provide the legal certainty businesses need to invest with confidence. He does not regard harmonization as a constraint on technological progress. Quite the opposite. Consistent legal standards provide the stability that allows innovation to advance responsibly while safeguarding privacy, democratic values, and fundamental rights.
Innovation Requires Trust, and Trust Requires Transparency
While many discussions about AI center on ownership and originality, Daffarra believes greater attention should be paid to practical solutions.
Among them are Technological Protection Measures (TPMs), including invisible watermarking, content provenance tracking, and systems capable of identifying whether copyrighted works have contributed to AI-generated outputs. Together, these tools could fundamentally change how copyright disputes are resolved. Instead of relying on assumptions or prolonged forensic investigations, parties would have stronger evidence to determine how training data has been used and whether infringement has occurred.
For businesses adopting artificial intelligence, Daffarra believes responsible progress should begin with transparency rather than litigation. Broad adoption of these measures would strengthen copyright enforcement while building trust among creators, publishers, developers, and consumers. The result would be a healthier digital environment where accountability and technological advancement reinforce one another.
Moving Beyond Conflict Toward Collaboration
One of Daffarra’s most compelling observations is that the future relationship between AI and copyright should not be viewed as a contest between technology companies and the creative industries. Artificial intelligence depends on access to vast quantities of data, much of it protected by copyright. At the same time, authors, artists, publishers, and creators deserve meaningful recognition, appropriate control, and fair compensation for their work.
Ignoring either side benefits no one. Without workable licensing mechanisms and transparent legal standards, prolonged litigation risks becoming the default method of resolving disputes. That outcome would slow progress while creating uncertainty throughout the creative economy.
Daffarra instead supports a balanced framework built on clear licensing models, reasonable exceptions for text and data mining, transparent obligations for developers, and equitable remuneration where appropriate. Such an approach protects creative rights while giving businesses the legal certainty needed to invest confidently in AI.
Human Creativity Still Defines the Standard
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable of producing sophisticated images, music, writing, and design, questions surrounding authorship continue to grow.
Does originality still belong exclusively to humans?
Daffarra believes technology can undoubtedly enhance creativity, but it cannot replace its deepest source.
“There are certain fields of creativity,” he observes, “such as the visual arts, in which the genius of artists like Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci cannot be rivalled or surpassed by technology. This is the ‘divine spark’ of human creativity.”
He also acknowledges that legal definitions of originality and authorship may require thoughtful reconsideration. Courts and legislators will increasingly face questions about how much human contribution is necessary before copyright protection applies. Their answers will shape not only future legislation but also society’s broader understanding of creativity.
Preparing for the Next Era of Intellectual Property
Daffarra believes businesses should resist treating artificial intelligence as simply another technological tool. Instead, they should recognize it as a force that demands equally significant changes in legal thinking. That means investing in transparent governance, responsible AI policies, effective licensing practices, and compliance frameworks that can evolve alongside regulation. Legal professionals, meanwhile, will need expertise extending beyond traditional intellectual property law into areas such as algorithmic accountability, privacy, transparency, and digital governance.
Policymakers face an equally important responsibility. Fragmented legal responses are unlikely to provide effective oversight for technologies operating across borders. International cooperation will be essential if innovation is to develop within predictable, ethical, and legally coherent boundaries.
A Living Principle for a Digital Future
Reflecting on the history of copyright, Daffarra draws inspiration from an earlier technological revolution. When Gutenberg’s printing press transformed access to knowledge, it also ushered in widespread piracy and decades of legal uncertainty before stronger protections emerged. Artificial intelligence, he believes, marks a comparable turning point.
“The future of copyright is not a simple binary of victory or defeat,” he says. “Copyright is a living principle, one that must adapt without surrendering its essential purpose: to reward and incentivise human creativity.”
His perspective serves as an important reminder as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the creative landscape. The question is not whether AI will continue to evolve; it almost certainly will. The greater challenge is whether legal systems, businesses, creators, and policymakers can evolve with it without losing sight of the principles copyright was designed to protect.
For Luciano Daffarra, the answer lies not in resisting innovation but in ensuring that progress remains grounded in fairness, legal certainty, and enduring respect for human creativity. In the decades ahead, the strongest digital economies may not be those with the most advanced algorithms, but those that strike the right balance between technological progress and the enduring principles that make creativity worth protecting.
