Copyright in the age of artificial intelligence: a guide for digital libraries in the Czech and European context

SUMMARY: This article examines the legal dimensions of copyright in digital libraries in light of the rapid development of artificial intelligence, focusing on both Czech and broader European legal frameworks. Digital libraries are conceptualized as an evolutionary phase of public library services, with their core mission—ensuring equal and democratic access to information—serving as a crucial interpretative framework for statutory exceptions and licenses. The article analyzes the legal implications of key digital library activities, including digitization, online access (such as electronic lending and the regime of out-of-commerce works—DNNT), and text and data mining (TDM). It highlights the importance of two new statutory licenses for TDM (Section 39c and Section 39d of the Czech Copyright Act), and notes the tension between the irrevocability of the research license and the practical barriers to its application to DNNT collections. It pays special attention to other AI applications, such as machine translation, automatic summarization, and interactive querying (Q&A), along with the legal requirements for their implementation. In connection with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), the article outlines new obligations for libraries as deployers, particularly regarding transparency and labeling of AI-generated content. The article concludes with strategic recommendations for libraries seeking to use AI in accordancewith legalframeworks and theirinstitutional mission. These include startingwith legally unambiguous resources (e.g. public domain works or the research TDM exception), addressing the paradox of DNNT collections, ensuring transparency, reliable attribution, and data protection in high-risk AI applications, and prioritizing locally deployed open-source solutions. Libraries are also encouraged to actively educate users aboutresponsible AI use and to strengthen their position as trusted institutions in the digital age.

KEYWORDS: digital libraries, copyright law, artificial intelligence, text and data mining, legal licenses, machine translation, automatic summarization, Czech Republic

JUDr. Bc. Lucie Smolka, Ph.D. / Lawado | law of ideas, Táborská 2370/189, 615 00 Brno

Mgr. Jana Hrzinová / Národní knihovna České republiky, Mariánské náměstí 190 /5, 110 00 Praha 1

Mgr. Václav Jiroušek / Národní knihovna České republiky, Mariánské náměstí 190/5, 110 00 Praha 1

Mgr. Lenka Maixnerová / Národní knihovna České republiky, Mariánské náměstí 190/5, 110 00 Praha 1