US District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell has ruled that AI-generated art can’t be copyrighted. In a decision that will have implications for future court cases on copyrights for music created using AI, the judge refused a claim by Stephen Thaler for an AI-generated image made with the Creativity Machine algorithm that he had created.
Judge Howell ruled that copyright law has “never stretched so far” as to “protect works generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand.”
What degree of “help” from AI in creation might still allow for copyright remains an open question.
“We are “approaching new frontiers in copyright,” acknowledged Judge Howell, which will lead to “challenging questions regarding how much human input is necessary” to copyright AI-created art or music.
The Verge has the full ruling here.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
