India proposes AI companies to pay royalties for using copyrighted work

India proposes AI companies to pay royalties for using copyrighted work

11 Dec 2025, 11:38 AM

This initiative emerges as AI companies worldwide face increasing legal challenges over their use of copyrighted material for model training.

Team Head&Tale

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India has unveiled a proposal requiring artificial intelligence (AI) companies to compensate creators whose copyrighted content is used to train AI models.

The proposal issued by India's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade would establish a mandatory licensing system where AI firms gain access to copyrighted materials in exchange for royalty payments distributed through a centralized collecting organization to writers, artists, musicians, and other rights holders.

An eight-member government committee developed the framework, arguing it would eliminate years of legal ambiguity while guaranteeing fair compensation for creators from the start.

The proposal suggests this approach reduces compliance expenses for AI companies while protecting intellectual property rights.

The committee noted India's significance in the global AI market, as the user base of top AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic expands in the country.

Officials argue that since AI firms generate revenue from Indian users while training their systems on content created by Indians, a portion of that value should return to those creators.

This initiative emerges as AI companies worldwide face increasing legal challenges over their use of copyrighted material for model training. In India, news organization ANI has filed suit against OpenAI in Delhi High Court, claiming unauthorized use of its articles.

Similar disputes are unfolding in American and European courts, with creators alleging tech companies built their models on unlicensed content without permission.

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