AI was left without copyrights for creativity, but there are exceptions

Media content created using generative neural networks and based only on the author’s textual hints is not protected by the copyright law in force in the United States. This is stated in the document published this week by the US Copyright Bureau on the policy of the AI ​​department and the possibility of protecting the copyright of content created using neural networks.

Image source: Copilot

The department noted that when determining the work to be protected by copyright, the main point is the creative role of man. There is a difference between artificial intelligence used as an auxiliary tool in the creative process, and artificial intelligence replacing human creativity.

This means that the work created with the help of AI can be protected by copyright if the algorithm was used to modify human work. For artists, such works can be drawings that were processed by AI-algorithms to add different effects, for example, 3D effect. Fully generated AI images will still not be protected by copyright, but this does not apply to work in which, after processing, the initial work of a person remains recognizable. It also applies to cases when the author adds to his image some new elements with the help of AI. Similarly, the video with the help added using AI will still be protected by the law on copyright.

The US Copyright Bureau does not exclude that as technologies develop the current legislation will require amendments. Later this year, the department plans to release the final version of the report based on the results of studies in the field of content generation and works of art using AI.