Should copyright protection be given for AI-generated inventions? Stephen Thaler, the president and CEO of Imagination Engines, thinks so.
The Complaint
In 2018, Thaler filed an application to register a copyright for an AI-generated work produced by one of his AI systems, the Creativity Machine. The work, titled “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,” is part of a series that depicts a simulated near-death experience. The U.S. Copyright Office denied Thaler’s application on the grounds that the work lacked human authorship. Last week, Thaler sued the Copyright Office, alleging that the agency’s denial of his copyright registration is an arbitrary and capricious action and not in accordance with the law. You can find the complaint here.