A federal appeals court has unanimously ruled that works created solely by artificial intelligence cannot receive copyright protection in the United States, reaffirming that human authorship is essential for copyright eligibility.

The case centered on Dr. Stephen Thaler's attempt to copyright an AI-generated image titled "A Recent Entrance to Paradise," created by his "Creativity Machine" system. Thaler listed the AI as the sole author, leading to rejection by the US Copyright Office.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld previous rulings, with Circuit Judge Patricia A. Millett emphasizing that the Copyright Act of 1976 requires human authorship for eligible works. The court clarified that any changes to this requirement would need to come from Congress, not the courts.

Key points from the ruling:

• Works must be authored by humans to qualify for copyright protection
• The Copyright Office allows registration of human-authored works that use AI tools
• Questions remain about the acceptable level of AI contribution in human-authored works

The National Press Photographers Association's Deputy General Counsel, Alicia Calzada, noted this ruling aligns with established copyright precedents, comparing it to the previous case where a monkey's selfie was deemed uncopyrightable.

This decision establishes a clear precedent for AI-generated content while leaving room for future legislative updates as technology continues to evolve.

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