Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has clarified the application of the Copyright Act regarding a cappella performances, derivative works, and artificial intelligence (AI) generated content. Under Taiwanese law, copyright protection is granted automatically upon the completion of a work, requiring no formal registration. To qualify, a work must demonstrate originality—meaning it is independently created rather than plagiarized—and a certain level of creativity. According to TIPO, an individual’s a cappella rendition of an existing melody or traditional folklore can be legally protected as a “performance,” provided the execution itself exhibits sufficient originality and creativity. 

The office also addressed the legal status of derivative works. While modifying an existing work with new creative elements produces an independently copyrighted derivative work, doing so without the original copyright holder’s authorization constitutes infringement. Violators face both civil and criminal liabilities. Ignorance of the original owner’s identity is not a valid legal defense, though such an infringement does not void the copyright protection of the newly added creative elements. 

Regarding AI-generated content, TIPO distinguishes between two scenarios. When AI is utilized merely as an assisting tool and the final product involves actual human creative input, the output is protected by copyright, which is awarded to the natural person who contributed the creativity. Conversely, works generated entirely through AI algorithms without human mental engagement do not constitute protected works under the Copyright Act. Furthermore, the office stipulated that short religious nouns or slogans, such as “Namo Amitabha,” do not qualify for copyright protection. Similarly, the economic rights in traditional Buddhist scriptures have long expired given their historical antiquity, placing them in the public domain, where they may be freely utilized by the general public.