The US Copyright Office issued a long-awaited report on copyrightability and AI. This is not about whether AI models are infringing–the topic of so many lawsuits–but about whether humans can claim authorship over works created using AI.

The result is nothing unexpected. Copyright will protect works created using the assistance of AI, but not works solely generated by (non-human) AI. Today, most works fall in the middle ground between those two poles, so protection will continue to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, this report is not legislation. The US Copyright Office issues rules on what it will accept as the basis for copyright registration. Because registration is necessary to enforce copyright in the courts, this rulemaking has a significant affect on the practical application of the law, and therefore, its rules are very influential and often forestall the need for legislation.

Here is the official summary:

• Questions of copyrightability and AI can be resolved pursuant to existing law, without the need for legislative change.
• The use of AI tools to assist rather than stand in for human creativity does not affect the availability of copyright protection for the output.
• Copyright protects the original expression in a work created by a human author, even if the work also includes AI-generated material.
• Copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material, or material where there is insufficient human control over the expressive elements.
• Whether human contributions to AI-generated outputs are sufficient to constitute authorship must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
• Based on the functioning of current generally available technology, prompts do not alone provide sufficient control.
• Human authors are entitled to copyright in their works of authorship that are perceptible in AI-generated outputs, as well as the creative selection, coordination, or arrangement of material in the outputs, or creative modifications of the outputs.
• The case has not been made for additional copyright or sui generis protection for AI-generated content.