Partners Louis Tompros and Ariel Soiffer, Counsel Matthew F. Ferraro and Senior Associate Natalie Li penned an article for Tech Policy Press discussing the US Copyright Office’s response to the rapid increase in AI-generated work. The article delves into a recent ruling centered on the use of an AI art generator and a Copyright Office policy statement reiterating the need for human-involved creation in protectable works.
Excerpt: In the past several weeks, the U.S. Copyright Office issued both a copyright decision and a policy statement establishing important guidelines for how copyright applies to works created through the application of artificial intelligence (AI).
First, in its February 2023 decision regarding a graphic novel comprised in part of images generated by the AI art platform Midjourney, the Copyright Office reiterated the well-established standard that only works created by a human author, with at least a minimal degree of creativity, are protectable by copyright. In that case, the Copyright Office concluded that images that had been created solely by Midjourney in response to textual prompts entered by a human were not protected by copyright.
Second, in a March 2023 formal policy statement, the Copyright Office wrote that AI-generated work may be protected by copyright if a human is sufficiently involved in the creative process. Sufficient human involvement may include selecting or arranging AI-generated material in a creative way or modifying material after it is created by AI.
