The paper analyzes the evolution of copyright and the main events that led to a change in the concept of determining the author’s rights and their protection. The main legal acts regulating copyright relations from the stage of their inception (from the moment of the invention of printing in Europe) to the present time are considered. The creation of the Internet became the starting point for rethinking the foundations of copyright law to adapt it to modern needs. Thus, treaties were adopted, the norms of which extended traditional law to the digital environment, securing the rights of authors on the Internet. Developing a licensing approach under the Creative Commons licensing concept and the “some rights reserved” principle has been an important step in the enforcement and protection of cross-border copyright rights on the Internet. This is a new stage in the development of licensing, due to technological progress and the introduction of artificial intelligence into human life.