One Nation, One Licence, One Payment: Mandatory Blanket Licence for AI Training

Key facts

• The government has proposed a 'One Nation, One Licence, One Payment' mandatory blanket licence for AI training, forcing companies to pay royalties to creators.
• The recommendations were released in a working paper by a committee led by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Royalty rates would be fixed by a government-appointed committee and collected through a single collective body formed by copyright holders.
• Creators, including musicians, news publishers, and authors, are the target beneficiaries of these royalties.
• The paper suggests retroactive payment of royalties in cases where copyrighted data has already been ingested into AI systems.
• A new umbrella industry body, called the Copyright Royalties Collective for AI Training (CRCAT), will have to be set up by rights holders and be designated by the Central government under the Copyright Act, 1957.
• The Centre will constitute a committee to determine the royalty rate, which can set a certain percentage of the gross global revenue (excluding taxes) earned by an AI developer.
• The committee will review and adjust rates every 3 years.