Copyright Compliance Faces AI, Piracy, Litigation Challenges 

Some issues related to copyright in 2026 include, among others, the use of Artificial Intelligence for training, widespread music piracy, and significant court cases. Publishers sued Cox for the ISP’s role in facilitating the infringement, they have been brought to a billion, dollar penalty and platform’s liability has been redefined.  

There have been many lawsuits related to AI and even more are expected, as the main issue is proving whether the use of data sets for training falls under fair use, and what the boundaries of output are in this regard. Among the most important cases are the ones decided by the Third Circuit in Ross v.  

Thomson Reuters, which will not only be binding but will also a certain extent determine the copyright standards for many years to come. Two elements which directly affect the development of copyright doctrines are the past policies of the Trump administration and the rapidly changing world of AI. On the one hand, the courts have to adjust their rulings so that on the one side there is creation of new technologies and on the other side there are protection of rights of the creators.  

On their part, companies will have to adjust their procedures, but also it will be necessary for them to install technologies that allow detection of infringements of the rights.