Federal Court Rules AI System Cannot Hold Copyright
Summary
On August 18, 2023, Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Stephen Thaler and his computer system, “the Creativity Machine.” Mr. Thaler alleged that the Creativity Machine independently generated visual art, which Thaler submitted to the United States Copyright Office noting the computer system as the author. The Copyright Office denied the application “on the grounds that the work lacked human authorship,” which Thaler challenged. The court decided in favor of the Copyright Office, concluding that “copyright has never stretched so far. . . as to protect works generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand.”
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