On August 18, 2023, a landmark ruling regarding copyright in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) came from the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Beryl A. Howell affirmed the U.S. Copyright Office’s decision denying copyright for a piece of art completely generated by an AI-driven computer, aptly named the “Creativity Machine.” This case, Thaler v. Perlnutter, No. 22-cv-1564, hinged on the idea that U.S. copyright law only protects works created by humans. The court agreed that the Copyright Office acted appropriately in denying copyright registration for a work created without any human involvement.
The court’s decision aligns with the U.S. Copyright Office’s guidelines, published in the Federal Register on March 16, 2023. Although this particular guidance wasn’t directly referenced in the court’s decision, it lays out how copyright eligibility extends to works that must owe their origin to a human being. The Office made it clear that they will not register works produced by a machine, or a mere mechanical process operating without any creative input or intervention from a human author. You can find this piece of guidance here.
Given these circumstances, it is clear that where human authorship is lacking, no valid copyright exists. This establishes a precedent moving forward in the arena of AI-generated creatives and the laws that pertain to their legitimacy. To fully delve into the details of the case, refer to the original court case documentation.