US Thaler Copyright Case

01

Factual background & dispute

• The application designated the "Creativity Machine" as the sole author of the work.
• The United States Copyright Office refused registration, prompting the applicant to seek judicial review and subsequent appeal.

02

Core issues & judicial focus

1. Whether an artificial intelligence system can qualify as an author under United States copyright law
2. Whether ownership or work-made-for-hire theories can support registration where the work was generated autonomously and the applicant did not claim human creative contribution before the agency

03

Judicial finding & holding

• The appellate court affirmed the refusal of registration, holding that the Copyright Act of 1976 requires a work to be authored in the first instance by a human being.
• The court did not reach Thaler's claim that developing and using the system made him the author because that claim was waived before the agency; it also did not decide the copyrightability of AI-assisted works containing human authorship.