Have you ever wondered if you should copyright a screenplay written by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system? It is not possible to copyright a screenplay that has been generated by ChatGPT, or any AI system. This is because copyrights in the United States are limited to works produced by human authors, and AIs lack the creative contribution of a human being. The US Copyright Office has recently published new guidance on the topic, coming to this conclusion.
The US Copyright Office typically receives hundreds of thousands of applications each year, and over the past few years it has seen a surge in requests for copyright on materials generated by AI. To address these inquiries, the Office issued Copyright Guidance in the Federal Register on March 16, 2023. It stated that works generated by a machine or mechanical process with no creative input from a human are not eligible for copyright protection. This applies to AI-generated works, as they are unable to create content indistinguishable from human-created content without a user’s prompt.
However, there could be grey areas in which a combination of AI and human input could be copyrightable. A key factor is the amount of human agency involved in the creative process. An example of this is photography, which requires some automated components but also requires creativity from the photographer. If a human and AI worked on a project together, the work could rightly be attributed to the human collaborator and it would be eligible for copyright protection.
It is important that the US Copyright Office is informed when applications include AI material. The Standard Application must specify this, as well as the contributions made by a person. If the applicant has already submitted an application or has a pending application which failed to disclose its use of AI, the applicant must take steps to update the application. The Office will also consider infringement claims of AI-generated works on a case-by-case basis. In this.
In the upcoming months, the US Copyright Office will open a notice of inquiry to further explore the issue of copyright protection for AI-generated materials. This should provide more clarity on which use cases should have access to protection. Nonetheless, no matter the outcome, it is paramount that the creativity of human authorship should remain at the core of obtaining copyright protection.
