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ARTICLE · 06 MAY 2025

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The AI And Copyright Dilemma: Can Machines Be Authors?

Gilbert's LLP
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A recent US copyright decision ruled that a generative AI (in this case, a system by Stephen Thaler named the Creative Machine) could not be an "author" for the purpose of copyright law.

CanadaIntellectual Property
Miriam Levin-Gold
Miriam Levin-Gold
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A recent US copyright decision ruled that a generative AI (in this case, a system by Stephen Thaler named the Creative Machine) could not be an "author" for the purpose of copyright law. Fundamentally, copyright authorship can only be attributed to humans. These issues may also soon be decided in Canadian law.

In a decision released on March 18th, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that non-human machines cannot hold copyright over the works they create.1 The decision hinges on a fundamental principle of the US Copyright Act of 1976, which establishes that only human beings can be recognized as the authors of their work.

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