AI-generated images made from text prompts can't be copyrighted: US Copyright Office

One of the Midjourney photos featuring three "women" at a house party. (Image: mileszim/Twitter)

The United States Copyright Office (USCO) has ruled that AI-generated images created from text prompts cannot be given copyright protection.

As Engadget reports, The USCO reasoned that while the "prompter" guides the AI during the creation process, "the machine determines how those instructions are implemented in its output."

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The office stated that when AI "produces complex written, visual, or musical works in response" to prompts, the "traditional elements of authorship" are determined and executed by technology and not the human user.

However, the office noted that the level of human input in a given work will be considered when granting it copyright.

The USCO further explained that current generative AI systems such as ChatGPT or Midjourney do not allow users to "exercise ultimate creative control over how such systems interpret prompts and generate material." Thus, the USCO ruled that "copyright can protect only material that is the product of human creativity.

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The USCO does not completely rule out granting AI-generated works protection, it said that the, "answer will depend on the circumstances, particularly how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final work" and that it would be a, "case-by-case inquiry".