Fading Frames: Ephemeral AR Art and the Limits of Copyright Law

Unlike conventional works, ephemeral augmented reality (AR) art is always transient, location-dependent, and technologically dependent, usually without fixation and materiality traditionally deemed necessary for protection. This impermanence exposes substantial holes in current legal dogma, especially regarding authorship, ownership, and enforceability of rights in the layered and dematerialised domain of AR imposed upon physical environments. Based on legal reasoning and case studies of recent AR installations, the article illustrates how today’s copyright regimes are deficient in handling the dynamic, hybrid and ephemeral character of AR expression. Through comparative analysis, drawing on examples from jurisdictions such as the US, EU, Japan, China, and others, the article critically evaluates divergent ways in which laws attempt, and often fail to address the challenges posed by AR ephemerality and spatial specificity in the digital art ecosystem. It contends that to sufficiently accommodate innovation while protecting authors’ rights, copyright law needs to adapt to the circumstances of immersive and technologically dependent art practice. This article examines the legal and conceptual difficulties of augmented reality (AR) art in the context of copyright law and the way forward. It advocates for a balanced, forward-looking legal framework that supports both innovation and the protection of rights, facilitating the flourishing of AR art within India’s contemporary cultural landscape. The piece concludes with actionable proposals for doctrinal reform and inter-disciplinary debate to provide a more balanced and responsive legal framework for AR art which includes expanding definitions of fixation, developing registries for time-based and location-based digital works, and integrating multidisciplinary input from artists, technologists, and policymakers.