A US court has ruled that human authorship is necessary for copyright protection, a decision that could impact works created solely by artificial intelligence. The D.C. Circuit panel unanimously agreed with the US Copyright Office’s stance, stating that machines cannot own property or have traditional human lifespans.
Dr. Stephen Thaler, a computer scientist, submitted a copyright registration application for a work generated by his “Creativity Machine” AI system in 2019. However, his application was denied after he listed the machine as the sole author and himself as the owner. The court sided with the US Copyright Office, citing the Copyright Act’s requirement of human authorship.
The ruling emphasizes that machines are tools to assist authors, not authors themselves. Congress specified that authors immediately own their copyrights, which implies that entities without property ownership cannot be considered authors under the statute. The panel declined to rule on whether AI creations can give rise to copyright protection but specified that the human authorship requirement does not fully prohibit it.
The decision highlights the need for clarification on how much of an AI’s contribution is recognized when determining copyright eligibility.
Source: https://www.courthousenews.com/dc-circuit-rules-ai-generated-work-ineligible-for-copyright