Cross-posted from petapixel.com [by Matt Growcoot]
The United States Copyright Office (USCO) has doubled down on its stance regarding artificial intelligence (AI), stating unequivocally that it will not register works generated entirely by AI.
In a webinar today, the Copyright Office states clearly that it views AI-generated content as “unclaimable material” ranking it alongside other unclaimable material such as previously published material, previously registered material, public domain material, and copyright material owned by another party.
“The Office will refuse to register works entirely generated by AI,” says Robert Kasunic of the USCO. “Human authorship is a precondition to copyrightability.”
It means there is no change since March when the Office issued guidance where it likened text prompts to “instructions to a commissioned artist.” Essentially comparing them to a magazine editor hiring a photographer.
“Today’s webinar made a few things clear: 1) Appreciable Human Authorship is still the main requirement of copyrightability; 2) the USCO is expecting applicants to become much more comfortable with the procedure to disclaim materials,” says Thomas Maddrey of the American Media Society of Photographers (ASMP).
“And the USCO is not going to give photographers a break on the requirement to use the Standard Application (as of now).”
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ASMP Livestream of the US Copyright Office Webinar on AI Registration – YouTube