Supreme Court Rejects AI-Generated Art Copyright Case

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a dispute regarding copyrights for art generated by artificial intelligence, turning away a case involving a computer scientist. This decision upholds lower court rulings that AI-created visual art is ineligible for copyright protection without a human creator.

Computer scientist Stephen Thaler appealed to the justices after federal courts upheld a U.S. Copyright Office decision. The office ruled that "A Recent Entrance to Paradise," a piece of visual art created by Thaler's AI technology, "DABUS," lacked the necessary human authorship.

Thaler, from St. Charles, Missouri, had sought federal copyright registration for the visual art. The image depicts train tracks entering a portal, surrounded by green and purple plant imagery.

The Copyright Office rejected his application, finding that creative works must have human authors to be eligible for copyright. A federal judge in Washington later upheld the office's decision, stating that human authorship is a "bedrock requirement of copyright."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the ruling in 2025. President Donald Trump's administration had urged the Supreme Court not to hear Thaler's appeal.

Thaler's lawyers argued in a filing to the Supreme Court that the case was of "paramount importance" due to the rapid rise of generative AI. They expressed concern that a refusal to hear the appeal would negatively impact AI development in the creative industry.

The administration maintained that the Copyright Act, while not defining "author," makes it clear the term refers to a human, not a machine. The Copyright Office has also separately rejected bids for copyrights on images generated by the AI system Midjourney, where artists claimed entitlement for AI-assisted works, a situation distinct from Thaler's claim that his system created 'A Recent Entrance to Paradise' independently.

Thaler's request to the Supreme Court in a separate case concerning AI-generated inventions for patent protection was also previously rejected. His patent applications for prototypes of a beverage holder and a light beacon were denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on similar grounds.

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• The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case on AI-generated art copyright.

• Lower courts upheld the U.S. Copyright Office's decision, stating AI art requires a human creator for protection.

• Stephen Thaler's artwork, "A Recent Entrance to Paradise," created by his AI system "DABUS," was denied copyright.

Source: REUTERS