Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
Thaler v. Perlmutter — AI as Copyright Author Denied (D.C. Cir.)
D.C. Cir. · Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- March 18, 2025
- Applies to
- Copyright applicants before the U.S. Copyright Office and federal courts
The companion copyright case: Stephen Thaler sought to register a copyright with 'Creativity Machine' (his AI) as the author. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in March 2025 that the Copyright Act's human-authorship requirement is dispositive as a matter of statutory law. AI cannot be a copyright author under U.S. law.
Who is protected: (Doctrinal — establishes that purely AI-generated works are uncopyrightable)
Legal detail
Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025), aff'g 687 F. Supp. 3d 140 (D.D.C. 2023). Held: 17 U.S.C. § 102(a) requires human authorship; Copyright Office's denial of registration was correct. Part 2 (Copyrightability, Jan. 29, 2025) and Part 2 (Jan. 2025) AI guidance applies the same rule and addresses human-AI hybrid works.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | D.C. Cir. |
|---|---|
| Level | Federal |
| Strength | Stronger |
| Citation | Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025) |
| Topics | copyright and training data · AI disclosure and transparency |
| Court record | Thaler v. Perlmutter — CourtListener D.C. Cir. opinion |
Related copyright and training data rules elsewhere
- Hachette v. Google (Gemini AI copyright) · Blocked / in litigation
- New York Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act (2026) · Proposed / pending
- Copyright Office AI Guidance · In effect
- USPTO AI Inventorship Guidance · Repealed / replaced
- NYT v. OpenAI / Microsoft · Blocked / in litigation
- Authors Guild v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
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