As I was doing my nightly news round I ran into this that I think fits in this thread,
Images created with artificial intelligence will not be copyrighted in the U.S.
At least they got something right, IMO.
Images created with artificial intelligence will not be copyrighted in the U.S.
A U.S. federal agency concluded that images generated with artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify for copyright protections, as it considers that they are not created by a human being.
The U.S. Copyright Office defended its position in a letter sent last Tuesday to graphic novelist Kris Kashtanova, who tried to register her work 'Zarya of the Dawn', which contained images created with the help of Midjourney, an AI 'software'.
The agency approved the copyrights for the parts of the book that Kashtanova wrote and arranged, but not for the representations she made using the aforementioned program.
"The process by which a Midjourney user obtains a final satisfactory image through the tool is not the same as that of a human artist, writer or photographer," the missive reads. "The fact that users cannot predict Midjourney's specific output makes Midjourney different, for copyright purposes, from other tools used by artists," it adds.
The tool generates images based on text prompts entered by clients. Kashtanova entered the text for 'Zarya of the Dawn' and the program created the book's illustrations based on prompts.
Kashtanova called it "great news" that the agency allowed copyright protection for the novel's plot and the way the images were organized. She also reported that her lawyers were considering the best way to demonstrate to the authorities that the graphic depictions made with AI itself were a "direct expression of her creativity and therefore subject to copyright."
The decision is one of the first by a U.S. court or agency on the scope of intellectual property protection for AI-created works, and comes amid the meteoric rise of programs using the technology such as Midjourney, Dall-E and ChatGPT.
The use of computer-generated art has stoked controversy among creators and consumers alike, with some artists warning that one day automated systems could replace human creativity and steal their work.
At least they got something right, IMO.