An analysis on copyright and translation rights: from the early ages to the creation of Artificial Intelligence

This dissertation analyses the founding of copyright in Europe and in the United States, until arriving to the development of the digital environment, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence. For this reason, several acts have been considered, starting with the statute of Anne in the United Kingdom and its development in the United States. It was possible to look at the rise of translation rights through the understanding of different cases, in particular Stowe v. Thomas, which refers to the actions pursued by Harriet Beecher Stowe in order to achieve her translation rights. A closer look was given to the rights of a translator and to the Berne Convention, the first international treaty that protects the works and the rights of an author. Subsequently, the development of copyright has been analysed in different counties: the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France, with a closer attention to the author’s moral rights. This study has also analysed the moral and economic rights existing in Italy, with a closer look at several cases, which clearly explain several key points that relate to copyright and translation. With regard to this topic, a court case was useful to understand how translation rights are considered to the present day: ZAO Askeri-ACCA v International Accounting Standards Committee Foundations. Additionally, following the development of society, it was possible to consider the rise of the digital environment, with new technological tools, such as machine translations and translation memories. Several difficulties have emerged, considering that online users can easily translate the material that is found online through the use of these tools. Consequently, several International and European treaties have been analysed. These treaties, although helpful, did not lead to the reduction of illegal actions on the web, which are always present. A new and significant directive was realised in 2019, involving the harmonization on the digital market. More in particular, this research has examined the development of the digital environment and the creation of Artificial Intelligence. This new technology could take to future AI creations which are realised autonomously. With the development of technology, a closer attention has been given to the chance that a robot has to be an author. In particular, it was possible to focus on different services, such as Hotpot, SmartCat and AI-Writer. It is necessary for the European commission to develop a law concerning the new achievements realized by AI in this creative field, trying to find a way to bypass the risks that a work has to fall directly in the public domain.