Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case on AI Art Copyright, Impacting Creators Nationwide

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a high-profile copyright case over whether art created entirely by artificial intelligence can be protected under U.S. copyright law. According to Reuters and The Verge, the justices turned away computer scientist Stephen Thaler’s appeal after lower courts upheld the U.S. Copyright Office’s decision that AI-generated works lack the human authorship required for copyright.

Thaler sought protection for a visual piece called A Recent Entrance to Paradise, which his AI system produced autonomously. The Copyright Office first rejected the application in 2022, and federal courts agreed that current law only protects works created by humans.

Thaler’s legal team warned the issue’s importance given the rapid adoption of generative AI. But with the Supreme Court declining review, the existing human-authorship requirement stands, leaving creators and the AI industry without clear guidance on AI-only works.

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