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D.C. Circuit Court Rules That Artificial Intelligence Cannot Solely Author Copyrightable Works
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently affirmed that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be the sole author on a copyright-registered work, but questions still remain as to the future of AI authorship.
In a March 18, 2025 decision, the court held that the Copyright Act of 1976 precludes AI from being the sole author of a federally copyrighted work but left questions about the future of AI authorship in copyright for Congress to resolve.
How Did We Get Here?
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Stephen Thaler invented a generative AI tool called the Creativity Machine. Not only has the AI tool been patented (in a now-expired U.S. Patent No. 5,689,666), but Dr. Thaler attempted to expand the AI’s intellectual property rights by using it to create an image, “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.”
When Dr. Thaler applied to federally register the work, he listed the Creativity Machine as the sole author, while he was the sole claimant/owner. He further characterized the role of the Creativity Machine by noting that the work was “[c]reated autonomously by machine” in the application.
The Copyright Office denied the application, citing its long-standing regulation that a human being must create a work for it to be eligible for federal copyright registration, and Dr. Thaler appealed, citing constitutional, statutory, and policy arguments.
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