These days, does a week go by without something new in the artificial intelligence (AI) world? This week the Copyright Office issued a Policy Statement to “clarify its practices for examining and registering works that contain material generated by the use of artificial intelligence technology.” The use of AI creates interesting and complicated challenges with respect to various copyright issues, including protectability, ownership, and infringement. The Copyright Office receives roughly half a million copyright registration applications per year and is looking to get ahead on this increasing AI trend. In fact, it has launched an agency-wide initiative to delve into various issues related to AI-generated works.
With its new Policy Statement, the Copyright Office seeks to confirm that registrations of creative works should include whether AI was used in the creation of the content, which is relevant to the preparation or identification of the work as well as its existence, ownership, and duration. More specifically, the Copyright Office says that “applicants have a duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration and to provide a brief explanation of the human author’s contributions to the work.” Ultimately, the Copyright Office maintains the position that copyright can only protect material that is the product of human creativity, which must be determined on a case-by-case basis.
For more information on what the Copyright Office views as sufficient human authorship to support a copyright claim, as well as information on how to submit applications for works containing AI-generated material or to correct a previously submitted or pending application, click here.