Overview
The policy initiative analysed is the European Parliament's own-initiative report (INI) titled "Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges," filed under procedure 2025/2058(INI). The current status is ongoing, with the file awaiting a vote in plenary. This analysis is based on the European Parliament resolution document (P10_TA(2026)0066) adopted on 10 March 2026. The report's purpose is to address legal ambiguities at the intersection of copyright law and generative AI (GenAI), focusing on the use of copyright-protected material for training and deploying AI systems. It aims to provide recommendations to the European Commission and Member States to influence the implementation of existing instruments like the AI Act and the Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) Directive, and to guide the development of new mechanisms for licensing, transparency, and enforcement.
Legislative timeline
The procedural history for this own-initiative report began with its referral to the responsible committee on 13 March 2025. The committee report was tabled on 27 June 2025, with amendments tabled on 15 September 2025. The committee adopted its report on 28 January 2026. The file was tabled for plenary consideration on 25 February 2026 and again on 4 March 2026. Recent institutional calendar events include a committee meeting on 10 March 2026 and an indicative plenary sitting date noted for 9 March 2026. The next key step is the Parliament's plenary vote.
Institutional handling
The lead committee in the European Parliament is the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). Within the European Commission, the responsible Directorate-General is DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT), under Commissioner Henna Virkkunen. The relevant Council configuration is the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA).
Stakeholder reactions
Stakeholder engagement on this file has been extensive, with 205 documented meetings held between stakeholders and EU policymakers. Of these, 167 were with Members of the European Parliament, 33 with Commissioners, and 5 with European Commission staff. These interactions involved 113 distinct organisations. The most active organisations in these engagements include FIMI, Google, EUROCINEMA, the Association de producteurs de cinéma et de télévision, the Motion Picture Association EMEA, and IFPI Representing recording industry worldwide. Positional data from meetings indicates stakeholder concerns on specific topics. On the issue of 'Artificial Intelligence', stakeholders such as the EU Representative of TU Eindhoven, STM, and Audiogest expressed opposing views, highlighting concerns about competition risks, negative effects on knowledge ecosystems, and the implementation of the AI Act in the creative sector. On 'EU rules on digital competition', the EU Representative of TU Eindhoven also expressed opposition, citing competition risks linked to generative AI and copyright.
Media coverage
Media coverage of this initiative includes one article from Brussels. The article reports that MEPs have advanced a set of proposals aimed at ensuring transparency and fair remuneration for copyrighted works used in the training of generative AI.