AI-created images lose US copyrights in test for new technology
滨尘补驳别蝉听in a graphic novel that were听肠谤别补迟别诲听using the artificial-intelligence system Midjourney should not have been granted copyright protection, the US聽Copyright Office said in a letter seen by Reuters.
“Zarya of the Dawn” author Kris Kashtanova is entitled to a copyright for the parts of the book Kashtanova wrote and arranged, but not for the听颈尘补驳别蝉听produced by Midjourney, the office said in its聽, dated Tuesday.
The decision is one of the first by a US聽court or agency on the scope of copyright protection for works听肠谤别补迟别诲听with听础滨, and comes amid the meteoric rise of generative听础滨聽software like Midjourney, Dall-E and ChatGPT.
The Copyright Office said in its letter that it would reissue its registration for “Zarya of the Dawn” to omit听颈尘补驳别蝉听that “are not the product of human authorship” and therefore cannot be copyrighted.
The Copyright Office had no comment on the decision.
Ms. Kashtanova on Wednesday called it “great听苍别飞s” that the office allowed copyright protection for the novel’s story and the way the听颈尘补驳别蝉听were arranged, which Ms. Kashtanova said “covers a lot of uses for the people in the听础滨聽art community.”
Ms. Kashtanova said they were considering how best to press ahead with the argument that the听颈尘补驳别蝉听themselves were a “direct expression of my creativity and therefore copyrightable.”
Midjourney general counsel Max Sills said the decision was “a great victory for Kris, Midjourney, and artists,” and that the Copyright Office is “clearly saying that if an artist exerts creative control over an image generating tool like Midjourney …the output is protectable.”
Midjourney is an听础滨-based system that generates听颈尘补驳别蝉听based on text prompts entered by users. Ms. Kashtanova wrote the text of “Zarya of the Dawn,” and Midjourney听肠谤别补迟别诲听the book’s听颈尘补驳别蝉听based on prompts.
The Copyright Office told Ms. Kashtanova in October it would reconsider the book’s copyright registration because the application did not disc濒辞蝉别听Midjourney’s role.
The office said on Tuesday that it would grant copyright protection for the book’s text and the way Ms. Kashtanova selected and arranged its elements. But it said Ms. Kashtanova was not the “master mind” behind the听颈尘补驳别蝉听themselves.
“The fact that Midjourney’s specific output cannot be predicted by users makes Midjourney different for copyright purposes than other tools used by artists,” the letter said. – Reuters
