The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) held a public hearing on the "Draft Copyright Guidelines for Generative AI" on July 20, 2026, and released the official meeting minutes on August 3, 2026. This meeting addressed key issues under the Copyright Act, including the ownership of AI-generated works, fair use boundaries, and infringement liabilities.
Many businesses mistakenly believe that slightly modifying AI-generated text or images automatically grants them copyright protection. However, the released minutes clarify that outputs generated primarily by algorithms without sufficient human creative input cannot secure copyright. This guideline does not affect general enterprises using AI as an office assistant for routine tasks like drafting emails or summarizing data. It primarily impacts creative industries that rely heavily on AI-generated content as core commercial assets, such as game designers, advertising agencies, and software developers.
R&D and design directors utilizing AI tools should implement two concrete actions this month. First, establish an internal design log to document the modification history and creative decisions made by human designers, providing evidence of human involvement. Second, update outsourcing templates to include clauses that specify the limits of AI tool usage by vendors and allocate liability for potential IP infringements, mitigating risks from unauthorized training data.