AI-generated comic loses US Copyright protection
A comic generated by AI, titled Zarya of the Dawn, loses its US Copyright protection due to doubts it met human authorship requirements. The Copyright Office will issue a more limited registration and update the public record accordingly.
The US Copyright Office has decided to reject part of the copyright registration for a graphic novel titled ‘Zarya of the Dawn’ by Kristina Kashtanova. In 2022, the novel became the first ever AI-generated work to receive copyright protection in US. At the time, this was perceived as a groundbreaking development that could establish new norms for intellectual property rights regarding works generated by AI in the United State and potentialy globally.
The Copyright office expressed doubts that the generative artwork created with the help of the AI-powered text-to-image tool Midjourney met the human authorship requirement for copyright protection. However, the office recognized that the text and visual elements of the novel were eligible for copyright protection. As a result, the original registration will be cancelled, and a new, more limited one will be issued, along with an update to the public record explaining the cancellation.
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