AI Can’t Hold Copyright, Court Rules
On March 18, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Thaler v. Perlmutter that only humans qualify as authors under the U.S. Copyright Act, excluding works created entirely by artificial intelligence from copyright protection.
The decision affirms a long-standing principle in American copyright law and rejects arguments that AI ownership or “work-for-hire” theories can extend authorship rights to machines. The court cited established policy, legislative intent, and precedent, including the “monkey selfie” case, to support its interpretation.
The case arose from Dr. Stephen Thaler’s application to register an AI-generated image, A Recent Entrance to Paradise, listing his AI as the sole creator. The Copyright Office and lower courts rejected his claims, leading to this appellate ruling. While the court clarified that pure AI-generated content cannot receive protection, it left open the question of works produced with combined human and AI input, a subject of growing importance across industries such as advertising, media, and software.
Ran Vogel, partner at S. Horowitz & Co., highlighted the ruling’s implications for businesses leveraging AI in creative processes – and you can read more here.
