Artificial intelligence and text and data mining: a copyright carol

Text and Data Mining (TDM) is a key tool for enabling artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. As the BlueDot project has demonstrated, the possibility to mine works and data to identify patterns and correlations might be crucial for solving pressing societal problems (e.g., the prediction of the Covid-19 outbreak). The importance of TDM has been understood by the European legislator, which has introduced two specifically tailored exceptions in the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive. This chapter argues that those new provisions still present several flaws that risk to stifle AI developments in Europe. The present chapter introduces an interpretative framework, based on the analysis of the infringement test, to rethink the rights of reproduction and extraction in line with the economic rationale of copyright and the database right. Furthermore, it makes suggestions to improve the TDM exceptions at national level. In conclusion, this chapter outlines the remaining challenges of private ordering and trade secrets for research and AI innovation.