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ARTICLE · 28 MARCH 2023

Copyright Office Issues Guidance On Copyrightability Of AI-Generated Content

Pryor Cashman LLP
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On March 15, 2023, the Copyright Office issued registration guidance on works containing material generated by AI.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme
Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme
Felicity Kohn
Felicity Kohn
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On March 15, 2023, the Copyright Office issued registration guidance on works containing material generated by AI. According to the Copyright Office, the guidance was prompted by the fact that it is regularly receiving applications for works claiming copyright in AI-generated material, as well as works containing human-authored elements combined with AI-generated material.

Human authorship is a prerequisite to registrability. However, a work containing AI-generated material may also contain "sufficient human authorship to support a claim," the Office said. In that case, the human-authored aspects of the work, which are "independent of" the AI-generated material would merit protection. For instance, an original selection and arrangement of AI-generated material may be protectable. Likewise, an artist may sufficiently modify material originally generated by AI such that the modifications qualify for copyright protection.

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