D.C. Circuit: Machine Using AI To Create Artwork Cannot Own A Copyright In The Artwork

• Published date: 26 March 2025
• Law Firm: Duane Morris LLP
• Author: Mr John M. Simpson

On March 18. 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that a work created with artificial intelligence (AI) using a machine cannot be registered in the name of the machine itself because the Copyright Act requires that a copyright owner be a human being. Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 18, 2025).

The plaintiff had created a picture entitled 'A Recent Entrance to Paradise' with a machine called the 'Creativity Machine' that generated the artwork using AI. The plaintiff applied for copyright protection, listing the machine as the author and the plaintiff as the owner. Plaintiff argued (1) that, under the Copyright Act, an 'author' need not be a human being but can be a machine; and (2) that plaintiff could be the owner of the work under the work-for-hire doctrine because non-humans such as corporations can own works for hire. As did the Copyright Office and the district court, the appellate court rejected both arguments.

As to the first point, the court noted that, while the Copyright Act does not define 'author,' the statute's use of that term is incompatible with a machine being an author. This is because, under the Copyright Act an 'author'

• must have the legal capacity to own...