On Friday, October 31, several professors and researchers submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Dr. Stephen Thaler’s petition for a writ of certiorari. They urged the Court to recognize copyright protection for works created by artificial intelligence (AI).
“Excluding AI-generated works from copyright protection threatens the foundations of American creativity, innovation, and economic growth.”
The brief warned that the previous court's requirement for human authorship ignores the “spirit of the Copyright Act.” It emphasized that denying copyright to AI-generated works could undermine U.S. creative and economic progress.
Dr. Thaler has sought copyright protection for his work titled A Recent Entrance to Paradise, which was produced by his AI system known as the Creativity Machine. The U.S. Copyright Office denied registration because the work lacks human authorship.
The case, Thaler v. Perlmutter, raises significant questions about how copyright law applies to AI-generated creations and challenges the traditional requirement that an author must be human.
“The lower court’s interpretation, which requires human authorship, disregards the spirit of the Copyright Act.”
The amicus brief calls for a reconsideration of this stance to foster innovation and uphold American creative leadership in the age of AI.
Summary: A group of professors argues before the Supreme Court that excluding AI-created works from copyright protections threatens creativity, innovation, and economic growth in the U.S.