Report on copyrightability of AI generated content
Last year the US Copyright Office reported “Copyright protects the original expression in a work created by a human author, even if the work also includes AI-generated material.” Also, human created content appears to be copyrightable if a graphic designer uses AI to stylize the content.
We were pretty sure that AI-generated content and prompts are not copyrightable, and the US Copyright Office has agreed. From a graphic design perspective, the report “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability” clarified that if artificial intelligence is used as a tool to create effects or stylized the human generated work, that content is copyrightable.
In their report they also concluded that “Copyright protects the original expression in a work created by a human author, even if the work also includes AI-generated material.” As I understand the report, AI-generated content that contains some human content may not. I’m not a copyright attorney so if you want to draw your own conclusions, the report can be found at: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf
It appears to me that if something is created by HI (human intelligence), you can use AI spell-checking and grammar-checking. If something is created mostly by AI (artificial intelligence), then it cannot be copyrighted. Check with a communications attorney before pursuing a copyright.
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