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ARTICLE · 19 MARCH 2025

D.C. Circuit Confirms No Copyright For AI Works

Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP
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In an important decision on the copyrightability of AI authored works issued on March 18, 2025, the D.C. Circuit upheld a 2023 district court ruling denying an appeal to secure copyright protection...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Jason Kasner
Jason Kasner
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In an important decision on the copyrightability of AI authored works issued on March 18, 2025, the D.C. Circuit upheld a 2023 district court ruling denying an appeal to secure copyright protection for artwork created by an artificial intelligence system. The case is Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. 2025), and the decision is consistent with the U.S. Copyright Office's position that copyright law only protects works created by human beings. Petitioner Stephen Thaler's appeal stemmed from a 2023 lower court decision that upheld the Copyright Office's rejection of the two-dimensional artwork, "A Recent Entrance to Paradise," created by Thaler's AI system, the Creativity Machine.

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