Ethical Considerations in AI and VR: Navigating Digital Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights Through a Systematic Review Approach Toward 2030

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technologies is transforming digital ecosystems quickly, and it is providing innovative solutions in the creative, educational, and commercial worlds. However, such rapid acceleration poses unseen moral dilemmas especially in the areas of authorship, privacy, responsibility, and online proprietorship. This chapter represents the evidence-based and systematic discussion of ethical issues regarding AI and VR, with special emphasis on intellectual property rights (IPR) and law of digital copyright. Through the application of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework as a means of conducting a systematic literature review (SLR), this chapter summarizes peer-reviewed studies, legal reports, and policy documents as a critical look at how current legal and ethical frameworks are adapting/not adapting to the disruptive potential of these technologies. Some of the major areas of concern are the appropriateness of AI-generated content, the legality of virtual property, the consequences of immersive user data gathering, and the renegotiation of copyright in algorithmically generated space. The chapter pinpoints the main gaps in the academic debate and regulation policy in forecasting ethical and legal paths in 2030, proposing the concept of interdisciplinary governance models, ethics-by-design principles, and dynamic and responsive AI–VR governance frameworks. It ends by suggesting a strong future research agenda that uses SLR and PRISMA methodologies in order to constantly evaluate and improve digital ethics standards, so that innovation is not devoid of justice, equity, and global legal standards.