The Ethics of Digital Creativity: Who Owns Art in the Age of AI?

The digital age is expanding the boundaries of creativity while fundamentally transforming the concept of “ownership.” Production processes that once rested solely on the responsibility of the artist, designer, or producer are now intertwined with artificial intelligence, algorithms, and digital platforms. This raises a new and pressing question: Who is the true owner of creativity in the digital age?

From music to visual arts, from film to software, the very notion of a “work” is being redefined. The rise of AI-assisted production has sparked new debates—both legal and ethical. While some argue that technology has democratized creativity, others criticize it for rendering human labor invisible.

Globally, these discussions have become central to cultural production policies. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) publishes reports on who should hold copyright for AI-generated works. The European Union, with its Digital Copyright Directive adopted in 2019, has placed greater responsibility on digital platforms toward content owners. Meanwhile, lawsuits continue in various countries over who owns the rights to images created using AI tools.

These developments show that technology must be discussed not only from an economic perspective but also through ethical and cultural dimensions.

The “originality” of AI-generated works is one of the most critical questions. When a text, melody, or image is created entirely by a machine, can it still be considered a creative act? And if so, who should share in the value it produces? Within platform economies, these questions become even more complex. With millions of pieces of content being generated daily, is revenue distribution on digital platforms truly fair?

In Türkiye, the number of questions surrounding this issue is growing by the day. Copyright laws have yet to be updated to reflect AI and digital production processes. However, this gap also presents an opportunity for innovative solutions.

Creative enterprises can develop new business models and forms of creation through emerging technologies such as blockchain, while universities and research centers can contribute to this transformation by conducting studies at the intersection of creativity, law, and technology.

Today, copyright in the digital world is not merely a matter of legal regulation—it represents an ongoing search for balance across economic, cultural, and ethical dimensions. The sustainability of the creative industries depends on how this balance is achieved. The true value may lie not only in creation itself, but in our ability to fairly define the creator, the sharer, and the protector.