Rajiv K. Luthra Memorial Lecture 2025 | Inaugural Lecture by Dev Gangjee, University of Oxford

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and the Rajiv K. Luthra Foundation (RKLF) are jointly organising the First Rajiv K. Luthra Memorial Lecture. This inaugural lecture will be delivered by Professor Dev Gangjee, University of Oxford, on the topic ‘Tools or Partners? Hybrid Human-AI Creativity and the Boundaries of Copyright’ on November 29, 2025.

Abstract of the Lecture

While policymakers and courts around the world grapple with the legality of training Generative AI on copyrighted works, an equally important question remains largely unexplored: can the human-induced outputs of these Gen AI systems ever qualify as authorial works under copyright law? If we use prompts to create images, can we claim them as our property? Do detailed and iterative prompts reflect sufficient human creative direction to qualify for copyright? Or are we simply rolling the dice each time, unsure of the results onscreen? As a normative matter, should we embrace this form of democratised creativity, which allows anyone to produce art, literature or music? Or does it fundamentally erode the relational processes which underpin meaningful creative production, thereby diluting markets for creative works? Generative AI therefore holds up a mirror to copyright law. This lecture reviews why we value creativity and through comparative law, including the US, EU, UK, China and India, explores whether copyright law has appropriate legal tools and thresholds in place to meet this challenge.

About The Speaker

Dev Gangjee is Professor of Intellectual Property Law within the Law Faculty and a Law Fellow at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. Prior to joining Oxford, he was a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics (LSE). Dev is a graduate of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru and Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

About The Discussant

Eashan Ghosh is an advocate specialising in intellectual property law, in private practice since 2011. He is the IPR Chair Professor at National Law University (NLU) Delhi, where he also serves as the Programme Director of the WIPO Joint Masters in Intellectual Property Law & Management. He is the author of three book titles, the most recent of them being Imperfect Recollections: The Indian Supreme Court on Trade Mark Law (2024).

About the Sponsors

NLSIU is hosting the First Rajiv K. Luthra Memorial Lecture with the support provided by the Rajiv K. Luthra Foundation (RKLF) that is based in New Delhi. The RKLF has been established in the memory of Late Shri Rajiv K. Luthra, the Founder and Managing Partner of Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, which is one of India’s most well-known commercial law firms. The RKLF has also provided a generous grant to NLSIU for the redevelopment of one of its academic buildings. This inaugural lecture is being organised as part of an annual lecture series.