EU rules of origin, signalling and the potential erosion of the art market through generative artificial intelligence
Jerome De Cooman
Jerome De Cooman continues his work on the economic impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence. In a new publication, he discusses the potential erosion of the art market through this technology.
Jerome De Cooman, "EU rules of origin, signalling and the potential erosion of the art market through generative artificial intelligence" (2025) 1 Cambridge Forum on AI: Law and Governance 1-16.
As an appetizer, here's the abstract:
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems generate artwork likely to be copyrightable if made by human. In lieu of discussing whether machine-enabled artworks should be copyrighted, a question that has received a large attention in academic scholarship, this paper proposes to analyse the economic implications of GenAI. Although the valuation of their outputs is still mostly unknown, preliminary studies show that, all other things being equal, humans’ works are evaluated at a significant higher value than machine-enabled ones. Yet, to be properly valued, human-made and machine-enabled products must be distinguishable. They are not. This indistinguishability creates an asymmetry in information that in turn leads to a lemons problem, defined as a market erosion of good-quality products. Against that background, this paper proposes a solution in light of European Union rules of origin and the so-called substantial transformation test. This solution can then be used in copyright law to identify where the human author has been able to make free and creative choices (or lack thereof) required to satisfy the criterion of originality and, hence, copyrightability.
