Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and this article is not intended as legal advice. If you have inquiries regarding the status of your generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)-assisted works, or other copyright questions, it's recommended to seek counsel from a qualified attorney. I am a practitioner and director in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) keeping an eye on industry shifts and sharing those insights.
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The U.S. Copyright Office previously issued guidance in 2023 that addresses the ability of authors to copyright works that are created using AI. These rules are used by the government to determine whether a person is eligible to copyright a particular work. Current protections fall broadly into three categories:
The issue here, similar to what we see with patent guidance (previously discussed),is the requirement of human origination to receive credit for authorship. Essentially, to get a copyright, the work must be authored by a human. There is some wiggle room for works partially created by AI, as we outline below:
Pursuant to the November Executive Order last year, the copyright guidance outlined above is being reviewed for a recommendation to the President, and that may or may not change the above categories above, and is due near the end of July.
Prior to the end of the fiscal year, additional light will be shed on the status and potential penalties, if any, for using copyrighted material to train an AI model. The status of these protections (or lack thereof) is largely unknown. Stay tuned to our blog to stay in the know on the latest in AI regulation!
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