First AI-Generated Art Copyright Case Decided in New York: Court Rules AI Works Can Receive Copyright Protection but Ownership Must Be Determined Case by Case

On August 14, 2028, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a landmark ruling in the closely watched follow-up litigation of "Thaler v. Perlmutter": AI-generated art works can receive protection under U.S. copyright law, but copyright ownership must be determined on a case-by-case basis according to the specific human contribution to the creative process.

The judge wrote in the opinion: "Copyright law protects 'original expression of authorship,' regardless of whether the tool used is a paintbrush, camera, or AI system. The key question is not what the tool is, but whether the human made sufficient creative choices in the creation process."

Plaintiff Jason Allen's AI-generated artwork "Theatre D'opera Spatial," created using the Midjourney tool, had previously been refused registration by the U.S. Copyright Office on the grounds of "lack of human authorship." The court overturned this decision but simultaneously noted that if a user merely inputs simple prompts (such as "a cat") while the AI autonomously completes all composition, color, and detail choices, the copyright protection scope for such a work would be very limited.

Legal community reactions were divided. Stanford IP law professor Mark Lemley called it a "pragmatic middle path" that protects artists using AI assistance while avoiding the risk of flooding copyright with purely AI-generated content.