US Courts: Work generated entirely by AI with no human input is not copyrightable
On August 18, 2023, in Thaler v. Perlmutter, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the U.S. Copyright Office’s motion for summary judgment, affirming the Copyright Office’s decision that a work generated entirely by AI with no human input is not copyrightable.
How likely will that become the case in Israel, and where do we stand now?
“In Thaler’s case, the U.S. Copyright Office refused to register the work made by his ‘creativity machine.’ It should be noted that, unlike the United States, there is no official Copyright Registry in Israel,” points out Shimon Maman, associate The Luzzatto Group.
Shimon adds: “But, if a similar question of copyright ownership is discussed in Israel through a copyright infringement litigation case, the decision will likely be similar as well, that AI alone cannot be considered a creator under the current Israeli copyright law.
It is worth mentioning that Thaler himself had previously tried his luck with the Israeli Patent Authority when he tried to register alleged inventions created by his machine. The former Israeli patent Registrar, Mr. Ofir Alon, rejected his applications and emphasized that AI is not eligible to be an inventor under the present legal framework.
In this ruling, the ILPTO aligned itself with nearly all jurisdictions to have considered the question to date. The rejection of the applications worldwide reflects the technological and legal reality that, at present, inventions generated with the assistance of AI are properly attributed to human inventors.
Therefore, it is safe to assume that, for now, Thaler’s case will apply similarly in Israel, and the demand for human involvement in the creation or invention process is here to stay under the current law.”
