An original idea is said to be one not thought up by another person beforehand. Yet, arguably, there are few truly original ideas in design. Most ideas consist of combinations, developments or byproducts of other ideas, or are inspired by old ideas. Moreover, the concept of originality is both culturally and historically contingent. The modern idea of originality goes back to the Age of Enlightenment (knowledge gained through rationalism and empiricism) and its response in Romanticism (the importance of subjectivity, imagination and appreciation of nature). In law, originality is a legal concept with respect to intellectual property, IP, where creativity and invention are manifested as copyrightable works. Ideas (and facts, and concepts), however, are not protected in their own right by copyright law. That is, only the way in which you express an idea is protectable. And so, because ideas per se cannot be copyrighted, anyone, including AI companies and creative industries can build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by someone else. But while combining AI and human intuition and emotional depth expands possibilities for human expression, it again raises questions about originality and also the nature of creativity itself. In addition to ideas, there are several other things that are not eligible for copyright protection: https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/whats-not-protected-by-copyright-law/
