The judge ruled that "Human Authorship is a Bedrock Requirement" and is "essential to a valid Copyright Claim".

The WGA strike was sparked by concerns over AI's ability to create intellectual property. A new ruling reaffirms that only human beings can be granted copyrights for their work.

Stephen Thaler, the plaintiff, wanted to copyright an AI-generated piece of art titled "A recent entrance to paradise." Thaler took his case to court after the US Copyright Office refused his request.

Beryl Howell is the US District Judge who has been overseeing this case. She has sided the US Copyright Office.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the law "has never been stretched so far to protect works generated by technology without any human guidance."

She noted that "human authorship is the bedrock requirement" and is "an essential part of a legitimate copyright claim."

The plaintiff can point to no cases in which a judge has recognized the copyright of a work that was created by a machine. Howell also stated that these cases will "provoke challenging questions about how much human involvement is required to qualify an AI user as an "author" of a generated piece of work."

This ruling may have an impact on how studios deal with AI during the strike.

SAG and AMPTP are unable to agree on details of compensation and consent. The actors' union wants to be involved with individual AI uses, which is a sticking-point for AMPTP.

WGA is concerned about how AI might impact its credits or residuals. The union stated that it would allow artificial intelligence to be used as a tool for writing but only if this wouldn't impact their credits.

Who owns the rights to those works where AI is used as a collaborator? That's a different question.

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Title: Federal Judge Rules AI-Generated Art Can't Be Copyrighted
Sourced From: www.toofab.com/2023/08/21/federal-judge-rules-ai-generated-art-cant-be-copyrighted/
Published Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2023 17:51:54 +0000

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