Copyright in AI

Extracted Attributes

• Nature

  Complex and evolving legal issue

• Key Prediction

  Copyrights will become unenforceable (Chamath Palihapitiya)

• Key Technologies

  Generative AI models, Large Language Models (LLMs), Text-to-image models

• Common Legal Defense

  Fair Use (for training data)

• Regulatory Body (US)

  U.S. Copyright Office

• Examples of AI Models

  Stable Diffusion, ChatGPT, Grok

• Notable Industry Deal

  $20 million deal between The New York Times and Amazon for content licensing

• Primary Legal Concerns

  Copyright infringement during AI model training; copyright infringement by AI-generated outputs

• Typical Training Data Source

  Vast amounts of internet-scraped data, often including copyrighted material

• Requirement for Registration (US)

  Applicants must disclose inclusion of AI-generated content and explain human author's contributions

• Alternative Training Data Strategy

  Synthetic data

• Potential Liability for Model Creators

  Vicarious copyright infringement

• U.S. Copyright Office Stance on Authorship

  Only human beings qualify as authors under U.S. copyright law for AI-generated content itself

• U.S. Copyright Office Stance on AI-Generated Outputs (as of 2025)

  Copyrightable only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements (e.g., creative arrangements, modifications); mere prompts are not sufficient

Timeline

• The U.S. Copyright Office launched a broad initiative to explore the intersection of copyright and AI. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-01-01

• The U.S. Copyright Office published a notice of inquiry in the Federal Register seeking public input on copyright law and AI. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-08-01

• A district court in Washington D.C. reaffirmed the U.S. Copyright Office’s stance that AI-generated content, in and of itself, cannot receive copyright protection, as only human beings qualify as authors under U.S. copyright law. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-08-01

• The U.S. Copyright Office received over 10,000 comments in response to its notice of inquiry on copyright and AI. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-12-31

• The U.S. Copyright Office published Part 1 of its Report on the legal and policy issues related to copyright and artificial intelligence, addressing digital replicas. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024-07-31

• The U.S. Copyright Office published Part 2 of its Report on copyright and artificial intelligence, addressing the copyrightability of outputs created using generative AI. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-01-29

• The U.S. Copyright Office released a pre-publication version of Part 3 of its Report on copyright and artificial intelligence. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-05-09

• A significant discussion on copyright in AI took place at the 'Winning the AI Race' DC Summit, where topics like fair use for training data and the enforceability of copyrights were debated. (Source: Related Documents)

  202X-XX-XX

Artificial intelligence and copyright

In the 2020s, the rapid advancement of deep learning-based generative artificial intelligence models raised questions about the copyright status of AI-generated works, and about whether copyright infringement occurs when such are trained or used. This includes text-to-image models such as Stable Diffusion and large language models such as ChatGPT. As of 2023, there were several pending U.S. lawsuits challenging the use of copyrighted data to train AI models, with defendants arguing that this falls under fair use. Popular deep learning models are trained on mass amounts of media scraped from the Internet, often utilizing copyrighted material. When assembling training data, the sourcing of copyrighted works may infringe on the copyright holder's exclusive right to control reproduction, unless covered by exceptions in relevant copyright laws. Additionally, using a model's outputs might violate copyright, and the model creator could be accused of vicarious liability and held responsible for that copyright infringement.

Web Search Results

• Copyright and Artificial Intelligence | U.S. Copyright Office

  Image 2 Since launching an initiative in early 2023, the Copyright Office has been examining the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI), including the scope of copyright in AI-generated works and the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. After hosting public listening sessions and webinars, the Office published a notice of inquiry in the _Federal Register_ in August 2023, which received over 10,000 comments by December 2023. [...] _Copyright and Artificial Intelligence_ analyzes copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI). This Report is being issued in several Parts. Part 1 was published on July 31, 2024, and addresses the topic of digital replicas. Part 2 was published on January 29, 2025, and addresses the copyrightability of outputs created using generative AI. On May 9, 2025, the Office released a pre-publication version of Part 3 in response to congressional inquiries and expressions of

• Copyright Office Releases Part 2 of Artificial Intelligence Report

  Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is releasing Part 2 of its Report on the legal and policy issues related to copyright and artificial intelligence (AI). This Part of the Report addresses the copyrightability of outputs created using generative AI. The Office affirms that existing principles of copyright law are flexible enough to apply to this new technology, as they have applied to technological innovations in the past. It concludes that the outputs of generative AI can be protected by [...] copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements. This can include situations where a human-authored work is perceptible in an AI output, or a human makes creative arrangements or modifications of the output, but not the mere provision of prompts. The Office confirms that the use of AI to assist in the process of creation or the inclusion of AI-generated material in a larger human-generated work does not bar copyrightability. It also finds that the case has not [...] In early 2023, the Copyright Office announced a broad initiative to explore the intersection of copyright and AI. Since then, the Office has issued registration guidance for works incorporating AI-generated content, hosted public listening sessions and webinars, met with experts and stakeholders, published a notice of inquiry seeking input from the public, and reviewed more than 10,000 responsive comments, which served to inform these conclusions.

• Copyrightability of AI-Generated Works

  There is little doubt that most of the focus relating to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on copyright is on whether use of copyrighted works by AI companies for ingestion/training purposes qualifies as a fair use. But coming in a very close second is the issue of whether works that are created, in whole or in part, using generative artificial intelligence (GAI) may be protected by copyright. [...] Last year, the Copyright Office issued guidance on the registration of works that contain AI-generated elements titled Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence. In the guidance, the Office explains that applicants have a duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration and to provide an explanation of the human author’s contributions to the work. Other notable requirements are that for AI-generated [...] We are encouraged by the fact that the Copyright Office recently indicated in a letter to Congress outlining its next steps addressing issues raised by AI that it will soon publish an update to the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices. According to the letter, the update will include further guidance and examples relating to the registration of works incorporating AI-generated material and will be subject to a notice-and-public comment process.

• AI, Copyright, and the Law: The Ongoing Battle Over Intellectual ...

  Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping industries, but it also raises complex legal questions—particularly in the realm of copyright law. In the past year, courts, legislators, and regulators have grappled with issues such as whether AI-generated content can be copyrighted, whether AI developers are liable for using copyrighted materials to train models, and how existing intellectual property (IP) laws should adapt to new technologies. These questions have significant implications [...] However, this ruling does not fully address the complexities of human-AI collaboration. The Copyright Office has clarified that if a human provides significant creative input—such as editing, arranging, or selecting AI-generated elements—a work might be eligible for copyright protection. The Office emphasizes that the extent of human involvement and the level of control exerted by human creators are crucial factors in determining the copyrightability of AI-assisted works.( But the line between [...] One of the most pressing issues is whether AI-generated works can be protected under copyright law. In August 2023, a district court in Washington D.C reaffirmed the U.S. Copyright Office’s stance that AI-generated content, in and of itself, cannot receive copyright protection.( Even though Thaler’s AI generated work met all requirements to receive copyright protection, “the court agreed with the Copyright Office that only human beings qualify as authors under U.S. copyright law, meaning that

• Artificial Intelligence Impacts on Copyright Law - RAND

  Copyright law protects original works of human expression. It does not protect AI-generated works where a human makes little to no creative impact, such as by typing a simple prompt, but it does protect works created with the use or assistance of AI. It is not yet clear how much creative input will be required to render AI-assisted work protectable under copyright. Training of AI models is likely to be deemed legal if the AI model does not retain protectable expression about works. Generative [...] This paper presents three main questions regarding whether: 1. works created with the use of AI are protectable under copyright law 2. training of AI models on copyrighted works is allowed under U.S. law and in other jurisdictions, such as the European Union (EU) 3. the most-recent developments in generative AI technology (including large language models [LLMs]), regarding both their training and outputs, are addressed by current copyright doctrine. [...] These questions remain open and hotly debated. This paper provides policymakers with legal insights on copyright law and AI from both the United States and abroad, explaining various positions to help balance competing interests. The interests at stake include providing incentives to authors and securing their rights, promoting innovation and the interests of the technology industry, maintaining global competitiveness of AI, and addressing the underlying issues of free expression, the practical