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Original Authors
Josef Drexl · Kateryna Militsyna · Gil Dagan
Affiliation
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany
Original Publication
Josef Drexl, Kateryna Militsyna and Gil Dagan, Position Statement of the Max Planck Institute of 25 June 2026 on the Future Copyright Framework in Times of Generative AI, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 26-10, 2026, 42 pp., published 4 August 2026.
ECDLR Note
The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence has exposed structural tensions in the existing European copyright framework. In this Position Statement, the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition responds to the European Commission’s 2026 consultation on the future of copyright law in the age of generative AI and proposes a substantial rethinking of the legal framework governing the use of protected works in AI development and exploitation.
A central feature of the proposal is the introduction of two distinct legal concepts: an AI development right and an AI exploitation right. For protected content collected through web scraping and used in AI development, the authors favour an exception allowing access to lawfully available internet content, combined with a right to fair compensation. For other categories of protected content, the paper supports voluntary licensing, including both individual and collective licensing arrangements.
The Position Statement also addresses the commercial exploitation of AI-generated outputs. Here, the authors propose mandatory collective rights management combined with extended collective licensing for certain forms of AI exploitation. Across these models, particular emphasis is placed on preserving an independent residual right to equitable remuneration for authors and performing artists.
For ECDLR, the paper is especially important because it moves beyond the narrow question of whether current text and data mining exceptions cover AI training. Instead, it asks whether the European copyright acquis itself should be redesigned around the economic realities of generative AI. The proposed distinction between AI development and AI exploitation offers a potentially influential framework for future debates on copyright licensing, collective rights management, creator remuneration and the allocation of value in AI-driven markets.
Keywords
Generative AI · Copyright Reform · AI Training · Licensing · Collective Rights Management · Fair Remuneration · EU Copyright Law
Original Source
Read the full paper at the Max Planck Institute
Featured Scholars
Josef Drexl
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Research focus: copyright law, competition law, intellectual property and AI regulation
Kateryna Militsyna
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Research focus: copyright law, AI governance and European intellectual property law
Gil Dagan
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Research focus: copyright policy, AI regulation and intellectual property