An American court in Washington, D.C., has decided that artworks made by artificial intelligence without any human involvement cannot be protected by copyright according to U.S. law.
The judge, Beryl Howell, supported the Copyright Office’s refusal of a request made by computer scientist Stephen Thaler for his DABUS system. Thaler claimed that DABUS created inventions and artworks, but the court ruled that only things created by humans can be copyrighted.
However, decision came after earlier attempts by Thaler to get patents for his DABUS-generated inventions were also unsuccessful.
Thaler tried to get patents for inventions created by the AI called DABUS in different countries like the UK, South Africa, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, but didn’t succeed much.
Thaler’s lawyer, Ryan Abbott, disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal. The Copyright Office, however, believes the court made the right choice.
The world of AI that creates things is growing, and it’s causing new issues about who owns these arts. The Copyright Office also said no to an artist who wish to own pictures made by the AI system Midjourney, even though the artist said the AI was part of their creative process.
There are lawsuits waiting to be resolved about using copyrighted materials to train AI. People are using AI in their creative process, which is causing copyright issues.
“We are approaching new frontiers in copyright as artists put AI in their toolbox,” which will raise “challenging questions” for copyright law, Howell wrote on Friday.
“This case, however, is not nearly so complex,” Howell told.