# AI and copyright under the 2026 framework Source: https://luatbanquyen.com/en/insights/ai-and-copyright · Updated: 2026-08-17 · Reviewed: 2026-08-17 AI is not a rights holder. Fully automatic output is unprotected. But the boundary of a human's "substantial creative contribution" is where the disputes will land. This is the fastest-moving area of Vietnamese IP law and the one where online information is most out of date — most circulating articles predate the framework that took effect on 1 April 2026. ## Three settled principles **AI is not a subject of IP rights.** An AI system cannot be named as author, cannot own rights, cannot be an inventor. That closes the "machine author" debate in Vietnam. **Fully automatic AI output is not protected.** Without human involvement the output is not protected as a human work or invention. It belongs to no one — not even the person who pressed run. **A human using AI as a tool can still be the author.** Where the user makes a substantial creative contribution — conception, direction, selection, editing of the output — they may be recognised as author or inventor. Decree 100/2026/ND-CP addresses how industrial property rights arise where subject matter was created using an AI system. ## The unsettled boundary "Substantial creative contribution" is not quantified. Between the clear extremes — a short prompt taken verbatim, versus AI as one stage in a long creative process with dozens of iterations and manual reworking — lies a wide grey zone. In that grey zone, what decides matters is **what you can prove**. Which is the most practical reason to keep a record of your process: save prompts and intermediate outputs; keep sketches and manual edits before and after; use tools with automatic version history; and note what you selected, rejected and why. For commercially valuable work, that record is the evidence you will need in an authorship dispute. ## Training data Law 131/2025/QH15 frames the use of IP-protected material in AI training. The approach: use is not infringing where the data was lawfully published and publicly accessible, the use does not unreasonably prejudice the rights holder's legitimate interests, and — for copyright material — detailed conditions set by the Government are met. The structure is familiar: it mirrors the three general conditions for copyright limitations and exceptions. What to watch is the Government's detailed conditions, since that is where the real boundary gets drawn. ## Three practical scenarios **Using AI for marketing copy.** Give a brief and use the output verbatim and it is likely unprotected — meaning you would struggle to stop a competitor copying it word for word. Write the outline, iterate, add your own material, and your position is far stronger. **Using AI to help write code.** Code where you designed the architecture, chose the approach and edited the result remains your work. Fully generated code used as-is sits on weaker ground. For commercially important source, keep commit history that shows the human contribution. **Worried your content trains someone's model.** The new framework sets conditions, but cross-border enforcement remains hard. The practical measures today are still technical controls and the terms of use on your own platform. ## The short advice If the work is commercially valuable and AI was involved: keep a record of the process, make sure the human contribution is real and demonstrable, and state in contracts with partners where AI was used. ## Cited documents - [Decree 100/2026/ND-CP amending Decree 65/2023/ND-CP on industrial property](/en/legal-documents/decree-100-2026-industrial-property) — In force - [Law No. 131/2025/QH15 amending the Law on Intellectual Property](/en/legal-documents/ip-law-amendment-2025) — In force ## Sources - [Law 131/2025/QH15 — amending the IP Law, in force 1 April 2026](https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=216511&classid=1&orggroupid=1) (131/2025/QH15) - [Decree 100/2026/ND-CP — establishing rights where subject matter was created using AI](https://luatvietnam.vn/cong-nghiep/nghi-dinh-100-2026-nd-cp-sua-doi-nghi-dinh-65-2023-ve-so-huu-tri-tue-430772-d1.html) (100/2026/NĐ-CP) - Next: [Copyright, trademark or patent — which one](/en/insights/copyright-trademark-or-patent) --- Reference material only; it does not replace legal advice on a specific matter.