Thresholds for Authorship and Originality in AI-generated and AI-assisted works

This paper examines the intersection of originality and authorship in copyright law, focusing on the treatment of AI-generated and AI-assisted works in China and the European Union. It identifies the conceptual oscillation between the two terms and addresses it by introducing a unified analytical scaffold, the Two-Tier Matrix, distinguishing between an objective layer of originality (independent creation and minimal creativity) and a subjective layer of authorship (free and creative choices by a natural person). The analysis traces how statutory provisions, doctrinal debates, and judicial decisions in both jurisdictions can be mapped onto this two-tier structure. In China, courts and scholars emphasise the objective tier, lowering the threshold for minimal creativity while requiring demonstrable human involvement. By contrast, the EU situates protection firmly within the subjective tier, demanding discernible human creative choices as established in Court of Justice of the European Union case law such as Infopaq and Painer. The comparative framework reveals not only the different doctrinal trajectories of the two systems but also highlights their convergences and the challenges they face in regulating AI creativity. By adopting the Two-Tier Matrix, this study provides a coherent tool for evaluating emerging copyright questions and contributes to the broader academic discussion on the future governance of AI-authored works.