Rethinking Authorship in AI Assisted Literary Works The Role and Originality of Prompt Engineers Janvi Sherigar

Rethinking Authorship in AI-Assisted Literary Works: The Role and Originality of Prompt Engineers.

The rapid growth of AI tools has blurred the distinction between human creativity and machine-generated output. This development raises questions of who owns the copyright in such works? The Copyright Act, 1957, was written at a time when only humans could create original literary works.

This article examines the role of “prompt engineer” as an individual who designs structured inputs that guide AI-generated outcomes through intellect, skill and judgment. The core problem is that AI does not simply follow instructions mechanically; it actively shapes the final written work. This article identifies this challenge as the 'Algorithmic Intermediary Problem,' where human authorship of the final output cannot be established with certainty.

The article asks three questions: first, can a prompt engineer be called an "author" of a literary work under sections 2(d), 2(o), 13(a), 14(a), 17, and 22 of the Copyright Act, 1957? Second, does an AI-assisted literary work meet the originality standard required for copyright protection? Third, does the law need to be reformed to address AI-assisted literary creation?

Adopting a doctrinal research methodology based on statutory interpretation of the Copyright Act, 1957 and comparative analysis of relevant case laws. This article argues that the current law is insufficient to clearly answer these questions. It recommends that literary works produced through highly skilled prompt engineering should receive limited copyright protection, and that creators should be required to disclose AI involvement. This article thereby fills a critical gap in Indian copyright scholarship by proposing a workable legal standard for AI-assisted literary authorship.

KEY WORDS - Artificial Intelligence; Prompt Engineering; Copyright Authorship; Originality; The Copyright Act 1957.