In January 2025, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) took on a case that raised a significant question for the future of copyright law in Mexico: Can artificial intelligence (“AI”) be considered an author? The case, identified as Direct Amparo 6/2025, was brought by Gerald García Báez, who attempted to register a work titled “Virtual Avatar: Gerald García Báez” before the National Institute of Copyright (“INDAUTOR”). The work had been created with the assistance of an AI tool called Leonardo.
The applicant argued that although he had provided photographs and instructions, it was the AI that generated the final content. He therefore requested that moral rights be recognized in favor of AI, and economic rights granted to him as the user of the system. INDAUTOR denied the registration, stating that the work was not created by a human being—an essential requirement for a work to be protected under the Federal Copyright Law.
Following a series of legal challenges, the matter reached the SCJN, which currently holds, as a draft opinion, that works created by artificial intelligence cannot be registered under the existing legal framework. The Court maintains that copyright is designed to protect human creations, and that only natural persons can be recognized as authors. This is because originality, as a legal requirement, is intrinsically linked to the individuality, experience, emotions, and human context—qualities that a machine does not possess.
Furthermore, the Court explained that moral rights— such as the right to be recognized as the author or to protect the integrity of the work—are considered human rights and therefore cannot be granted to nonhuman entities such as AI. It also clarified that international law, including treaties such as the USMCA and the Berne Convention, does not require the recognition of machines as authors.
In conclusion, the current legal position in Mexico is clear: works generated by artificial intelligence cannot be registered as if they were human creations. Unless there is a legal reform that explicitly addresses this emerging technological reality, the law will continue to uphold a human-centered approach, recognizing only natural persons as authors.
