AI-Generated Art Lacks Copyright Protection, D.C. Court Says (1)

Artwork created by artificial intelligence isn’t eligible for copyright protection because it lacks human authorship, a Washington, D.C., federal judge decided Friday.

Judge Beryl A. Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with the US Copyright Office’s decision to deny a copyright registration to computer scientist Stephen Thaler, who argued a two-dimensional artwork created by his AI program “Creativity Machine” should be eligible for protection.

The ruling is the first in the country to establish a boundary on the legal protections for AI-generated artwork, which has exploded in popularity with the rise ...