AI Copyright Infringement: Navigating the Legal Risks of AI-Generated Content

Abstract

The accelerated growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can generate text, images, music, code, and multimodal content has caused a legal and philosophical crisis in the field of copyright law. Current study explores two infringement issues, caused by AI-generated content namely the possibility of an infringement of the existing copyrighted works via the unauthorized need integration and processing of the secure material, and the possibility of the infringement of the individual AI output through reproduction, derivation, or significant imitation of the safeguarded expression. Doctrinal legal analysis, authoritative case law reviewed (2023-2025), the US fair use doctrine and EU text and data mining (TDM) exceptions and the AI Act, indicate that current copyright regimes are under a fundamental challenge by generative AI. The legality of the integration of training data, the use of substantial similarity tests on outputs, the controversial issue of originality when it comes to machine productions, assigning liability along the AI value chain, and the development of defense mechanisms and policy reactions are also discussed. This study describes consistent gaps in the dangers of memorization, the possibility to quantify the damage in the markets, and international harmonization. Although the current legal frameworks (especially the strong fair use scrutiny law in the US and opt-out law in the EU) can cover most of the infringement claims, clarity is still required to stabilize the situation and make sure that transformative innovation is not negated by the rights of creators.