Lesson 55 of 1570
Who Owns an AI Image?
US Copyright Office in 2026: works created purely by AI aren't copyrightable. Works with enough human creative control might be. Here's where the line sits right now.
Lesson map
What this lesson covers
Learning path
The main moves in order
- 1The headline ruling
- 2copyright
- 3human authorship
- 4Thaler v. Perlmutter
Concept cluster
Terms to connect while reading
Section 1
The headline ruling
In March 2026, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in Thaler v. Perlmutter, letting stand the D.C. Circuit's ruling: a work created entirely autonomously by AI, with no human creative input, cannot be copyrighted. The US Copyright Office's longstanding position — human authorship is required — is now settled for purely-AI works.
The cases that matter
- Thaler v. Perlmutter (2026) — Supreme Court denied cert; purely-AI works = no copyright. Settled.
- Allen v. Perlmutter (pending) — Jason Allen's 'Théâtre D'opéra Spatial,' made with 624 Midjourney prompts + Photoshop touch-ups. Tests where human contribution is 'enough.' Ruling expected 2026-2027.
- Andersen v. Stability AI (pending) — artists suing over training data. Affects whether training on copyrighted art is fair use.
- NYT v. OpenAI (2024, pending) — text version of training-data question.
What you CAN register right now
- 1A comic where you wrote the story, prompted AI for panel art, THEN composed panels, wrote dialogue, and arranged. Register the selection/arrangement/text.
- 2A photograph you took, then modified with AI (inpainting, upscaling). Register the photograph.
- 3A human-illustrated piece where you used AI for background texture only. Register the work; disclose AI-assisted elements.
What you CANNOT register
- A single Midjourney image generated from one prompt and posted as-is.
- A Suno song where you only provided a one-line prompt.
- An AI-written book with no substantial human editing.
Commercial use is a different question
Copyright is about who can stop others from copying your work. Commercial use is about whether you can USE the output for business. Most major AI providers (OpenAI, Midjourney Pro, Adobe Firefly, ElevenLabs, Flux Pro) grant commercial use rights to paid users. Check each ToS.
Compare the options
| Tool | Commercial use of output? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT / GPT Image 1.5 (paid) | Yes, per OpenAI ToS. | You own the output; OpenAI has no rights. |
| Midjourney (paid tiers) | Yes. | Free-tier images are CC-BY-NC. |
| Adobe Firefly | Yes, indemnified. | Adobe trained on licensed + public-domain data; offers legal indemnification. |
| Suno Pro | Yes. | But the lawsuit risk is not indemnified. |
| ElevenMusic | Yes. | Licensed training data; safer for commercial. |
| Stable Diffusion (self-hosted) | Yes, but you own the risk. | No one indemnifies you. |
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