US Copyright Office clears creations with input from artificial intelligence

If a human modifies AI-generated output, the resulting work can be protected

US Copyright Office clears creations with input from artificial intelligence

The US Copyright Office has cleared for copyright protection works that were created with the help of artificial intelligence, reported the Associated Press.

According to a report released by the office this week, the artist’s handiwork must be discernible in the final product for it to be copyrightable. Moreover, if a human makes “creative arrangements or modifications” to an AI-generated output, that work can be protected, as per Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter.

Perlmutter highlighted what was described as the “centrality of human creativity” in the creation of a copyrightable work.

“Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection,” Perlmutter said in a statement published by the AP.

Nonetheless, the copyright office will still deny protection to fully AI-generated content where the human contribution was prompt provision.

“Extending protection to material whose expressive elements are determined by a machine…would undermine rather than further the constitutional goals of copyright,” Perlmutter said.

This approach could drive the expansion of AI use in creative fields like moviemaking and music, according to the AP.

The report’s findings were sourced from a 2023 review that obtained feedback from AI developers, actors, and country singers. The report did not comment on the use of copyrighted human-created works to train AI systems, which has been the subject of many lawsuits including a recent one involving AI company Anthropic’s use of song lyrics to train its chatbot.

The copyright office said another report was in the works that would focus on AI training via copyrighted works, licensing considerations, and liability allocation.

The US Copyright Office processes approximately 500,000 copyright applications each year, with an increasing number being requests to copyright AI-generated works. Most copyright decisions are made on a case-to-case basis.

The copyright office sits in the Library of Congress and is not an executive branch.