ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence ("AI") programs, like the image-generating Midjourney, have accelerated conversations around generative AI, raising important public policy questions on the protectability of AI-generated works.
The full impact of generative AI has not yet revealed itself, and all creative fields are essentially confronted with a future that is hard to predict amidst the fast-paced changes taking place. However, the U.S. Copyright Office has taken some initial steps to issue guidance, even launching a formal AI initiative. While it has fallen short of issuing any rules, the Office has left a breadcrumb trail that forms the center of this debate: What might satisfy the Copyright Office's requisite human authorship requirement to afford AI-assisted creative content copyright protection?