Lawmakers Drill US Copyright Head Over Protections for AI Art

US Copyright Office Director Shira Perlmutter clarified to a House committee Wednesday that the human-created elements of an AI-assisted artwork can receive copyright protection, but the line is often blurry.

That question has vexed creators as the office and courts have begun to consider the copyright implications of powerful generative AI art programs.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, posed to Perlmutter a series of examples where artists use an AI program in their work. He asked whether an author who writes a novel but then uses an AI ...