Opinion: The Copyright Office is making a mistake on AI-generated art
Two weeks ago, the US Copyright Office refused to register a copyright for Theatre D'opera Spatial, an AI-generated image that got widespread media attention last year after it won an art competition. It's at least the third time the Copyright Office has ruled that AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted.
The Copyright Office first ruled on this issue in 2019. Artist Stephen Thaler tried to register an image that he said had been created entirely by a computer program. The Copyright Office rejected the application because copyright protection is only available for works created by human beings-not supernatural beings (like the Holy Spirit), not animals (like this now-famous monkey), and not computer programs.
The ruling raised an important question: Was the issue just that Thaler should have listed himself, rather than his AI system, as the image's creator? Or is AI-generated art categorically excluded from copyright protection?