AI Legal Watch: March 27, 2025

D.C. Circuit Affirms USCO Stance on AI Authorship

Ben Bafumi*

The recent decision in Thaler v. Perlmutter et al., No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. 2025) offers continued guidance on whether "authorship" can be attributed to AI systems (i.e., non-humans) under Copyright Law. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the denial of Stephen Thaler's copyright application, which included artwork generated fully by his AI model, the "Creativity Machine," on the basis that it is not a "human being" as required by the Copyright Act of 1976. The Court made clear that "authors must be humans, not machines," based, at least in part, on the consistent approach from the Copyright Office prior to the passage of the Copyright Act. While Thaler found these to be archaic principles unrepresentative of modern technology and culture, the Court was unconvinced. The Copyright Office was gladdened by this decision, as it not only affirms age-old precedent, but similarly affirms other recent rejections by the