The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is developing proposed guidelines on the registrability of artificial-intelligence systems and AI-related works. In its 17 September 2026 announcement, IPOPHL explained that the use of an AI system does not, by itself, disqualify a work from copyright registration. The central question is whether the work contains original expression attributable to a human creator.

The proposal places human creative contribution at the center of the assessment. A person’s use of software or an AI tool may form part of a creative process, but copyright protection would extend only to the extent that the resulting work embodies original human expression satisfying the originality requirement under applicable law and jurisprudence. Merely identifying the person who entered a prompt may not resolve questions concerning authorship, creative control, selection, arrangement, or modification.

For creators and businesses, careful records will become increasingly important. Project files, drafts, prompt histories, editing logs, source materials, and written explanations of human decisions can help show how the author shaped the final output. Contracts with employees, agencies, designers, and technology providers should also address ownership, permitted uses of inputs, confidentiality, warranties, and responsibility for possible infringement.

The proposed approach also makes due diligence essential. Even where a human contribution is sufficient for registration, an applicant should consider whether protected photographs, text, music, trademarks, personal data, or confidential material were used as inputs or reproduced in the output. Copyright registration does not by itself eliminate third-party claims, and businesses should maintain review procedures before publishing or commercializing AI-assisted material.

IPOPHL stated that the draft was presented during an initial public consultation and remains subject to refinement through stakeholder engagement. It should therefore be described as a proposal rather than a final binding rule. The official announcement is available at IPOPHL’s new draft guidelines on AI-related works. This article is general information and should not be taken as a definitive determination of authorship, registrability, or infringement in a particular case.