KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance Bill will require AI developers and users to manage legal and ethical risks, including potential copyright violations from using unlicensed or unauthorised training data, said Deputy Digital Minister Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong (GPS-Hulu Rajang).
He said the bill introduces risk assessments, transparency requirements, audits, and compliance measures to help authorities identify and act against AI systems that may infringe intellectual property rights.
“The legislation does not replace existing copyright or IP laws, including the Copyright Act 1987, but serves as a legal framework to ensure all parties are accountable throughout an AI system’s lifecycle,” Wilson said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Suhaizan Kaiat (Harapan-Pulai) on how the AI Governance Bill will address copyright and intellectual property issues arising from AI systems trained using copyrighted data, such as text, images, audio and video.
He explained that the bill adds an extra layer of governance, ensuring AI development, including training models with copyrighted data, is responsible, transparent, and legally compliant, balancing innovation with copyright and IP protection.
“Substantive enforcement of copyright and IP remains under existing laws, administered by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). This protects creators, data owners and digital content even as AI technology evolves,” Wilson said.
