Dr Alina Trapova presents research on generative AI and copyright at the Seoul Copyright Forum

Image: L-R: Gavin Foo, Head, Copyright Unit and Principal Legal Counsel at Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS); Dr Alina Trapova, UCL Laws; Hye Chang Kim, Director General, Policy Research Division at Korea Copyright Commission. Photo provided by the Korea Copyright Commission.

Dr Alina Trapova, Lecturer at UCL Laws and Co-Director of the UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL), was invited by the Directorate-General of Copyright Policy at the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to present her research on generative AI at the Seoul Copyright Forum 2023, on 26 October 2023.

This year’s Forum sought to explore the current state of generative AI creative technology and policy options for adapting copyright law to the AI age. Dr Trapova, the only UK-based speaker, was invited to present at the conference, focussed her talk on the UK’s current policy efforts to balance copyright protection and industry developments in generative AI. It highlighted the specific challenges surrounding generative AI ‘input’ regulation, including the text and data mining copyright exception, the commercial licensing environment, and the current efforts in the UK to create a code of practice to infuse some certainty into the landscape.

Dr Trapova was joined on stage at the conference by other leading global copyright experts including the Chairman of the Korea Copyright Commission (Byung-Goo Choi), the Deputy Director of Policy and International Affairs at the US Copyright Office (Andrew Foglia), the Head of Copyright at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Gavin Foo) and Professor Mira Sundara Rajan, UC Davis School of Law. The AI industry was represented by speakers from LG Electronics (Han Gyu Ko), and Midjourney (Max Sills), while copyright owner and stakeholder concerns were voiced by the Korea Music Copyright Association (Seon Cheol Hwang). The event was very well attended, with an in-person audience of over 300 and over 1000 registered to watch a livestream of the event online.

IBIL will be organising a seminar on this fast-moving subject area early next year.

Find out more 

• Watch a recording of Dr Trapova's conference presentation
• Dr Trapova’s research profile
• Seoul Copyright Forum 2023