"Delhi High Court Rules LLM Training on Copyrighted Works Permissible Under Fair Dealing"
Fair Dealing
India's copyright exception permitting limited use of copyrighted works for specified purposes (research, private use, criticism) without owner consent; narrower than US fair use.
Fair Use
US copyright doctrine allowing use of copyrighted material based on a flexible four-factor open-ended test; not applicable in India.
Intellectual property law in India is primarily governed by the Copyright Act, 1957, which grants authors and creators exclusive rights over their original works. The Act also carves out exceptions — collectively termed 'fair dealing' — that permit limited use of copyrighted material without the owner's consent, provided the use falls within specified purposes such as private use, research, criticism, review, or reporting of current events. This framework is distinct from the broader 'fair use' doctrine operative in the United States, which relies on a flexible, open-ended four-factor test rather than a closed list of permitted purposes.
The rise of large language models (LLMs) — AI systems trained on vast corpora of text — has created a structural tension between copyright law and technological innovation globally. LLMs ingest copyrighted books, articles, and datasets during training, raising the question of whether this constitutes infringement. Courts in multiple jurisdictions have been called upon to adjudicate this tension, with the legal outcome having profound consequences for the viability of indigenous AI development. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), 2023 addresses data governance but does not resolve copyright questions; the Copyright Act, 1957 remains the operative statute here.
The fair dealing exception under the Copyright Act, 1957 operates in two stages in Indian jurisprudence. First, a court must determine whether the use falls within one of the enumerated permitted purposes — private use, research, criticism, review, or news reporting. Second, the court conducts a 'fairness analysis' to assess whether the use was genuinely fair in character. This two-stage structure is narrower than the US four-factor fair use test, which evaluates: (i) purpose and character of use, (ii) nature of the copyrighted work, (iii) amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and (iv) effect on the potential market for the original work.
The Delhi High Court's interim ruling in the case brought by news agency ANI against OpenAI is significant on several counts. The court held that machine learning — the process by which an LLM trains on text data — constitutes a form of 'learning' that can fall within the 'private use' and 'research' purposes enumerated in the fair dealing exception. …
Consider the following statements with respect to the AI Impact Summit, 2026 held in New Delhi:
1.The Summit's intellectual framework was based on three foundational Sutras: People, Planning, and Progress.
2.The Preamble of the Summit stresses Democratising AI Resources, which acknowledges the Charter for Democratic Diffusion of AI as a binding framework to support locally relevant innovation and strengthen resilient AI ecosystems while respecting national laws.
3.The New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact was structured around seven Chakras (Pillars), which included Access for Social Empowerment, AI for Science, and Secure and Trusted AI.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Under which Article of the Constitution of India is the 'Right to Privacy' protected?
With reference to India's copyright law and AI training, consider the following statements:
1.India's 'fair dealing' exception under the Copyright Act, 1957 is based on the same four-factor test as the US 'fair use' doctrine.
2.The Delhi High Court held that machine learning (LLM training) can fall within the 'private use' and 'research' purposes enumerated in India's fair dealing exception.
3.The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 provides a comprehensive legal framework governing both personal data and copyright obligations for AI systems.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Delhi High Court's interim ruling in the ANI v. OpenAI case fashioned a fairness test for LLM training under India's fair dealing exception. Which of the following correctly describes a key factor in that test?
Consider the following pairs regarding copyright doctrines and their jurisdictions:
1.Fair dealing — two-stage test (purpose + fairness analysis) — India
2.Fair use — four-factor open-ended test — United States
3.Fair dealing — mandatory licensing regime — European Union
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Assertion (A): The Delhi High Court's interim ruling in the ANI v. OpenAI case provides AI developers unconditional legal cover to use any copyrighted content for LLM training in India.
Reason (R): The court held that LLM training falls within India's fair dealing exception and found no possibility of copyright infringement on the output side of LLMs.
Which of the following is correct?
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