In a recent announcement, the US Copyright Office reaffirmed the applicability of existing laws to the question of copyrightability of AI-assisted works, stating there was no need for legislative change. This stance was informed by over 10,000 public comments on their guidance, aiming to delineate the protections for human creators in an era of rapidly advancing AI technology.
According to the office, the issues surrounding AI and copyright were first contended in 1965 when questions of authorship in computer-assisted creations arose. At that time, Abraham Kaminstein, then the Register of Copyrights, stated that “there is no one-size-fits-all answer” to these concerns, suggesting solutions should be sought within the then-existing frameworks.
Todays’ guidance from the Copyright Office echoes Kaminstein’s viewpoints, noting that “very few bright-line rules are possible” regarding AI-generated content. However, it specifies that any work generated entirely by AI, due to a lack of human control over expressive elements, cannot be protected by copyright. This is a key exception outlined by the Office.
Nonetheless, the guidance introduces a nuance by explaining that works where AI merely assists humans maintain their copyright eligibility. The office plans to assess AI disclosures continually, examining each work on a case-by-case basis to identify the human element versus the AI-generated portion. Officials concluded that human-authored expressions within a creation are eligible for copyright, while purely AI-generated aspects are not.