Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

How D.C. Fed. Court Denied Copyright to AI-Created Artwork

By Robert W. Clarida and Thomas Kjellberg
October 01, 2023

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently upheld a final refusal by the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) to register a visual work entitled "A Recent Entrance to Paradise." According to the application filed with the USCO by plaintiff Stephen Thaler, the image was not the product of human authorship but was instead "autonomously created by a computer algorithm running on a machine," which the plaintiff called the Creativity Machine and identified as the "author" of the work. The plaintiff named himself as the copyright claimant, however, on the basis that he was the "owner of the machine."

The USCO refused to register the work in August 2019 because it "lack[ed] the human authorship necessary to support a copyright claim." This refusal was affirmed, on the same reasoning, through the internal appeals process within USCO. A final refusal by the Copyright Review Board on Feb. 14, 2022, led Thaler to file an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §706(2), claiming that the USCO's actions were "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with the law, unsupported by substantial evidence and in excess of [USCO's] statutory authority."

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

The Bankruptcy Hotline Image

Recent cases of importance to your practice.

Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations Image

This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.

How AI Has Affected PR Image

When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.

The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs Image

The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.