Thaler v. Perlmutter
rights policy item·appellate court decision·unknown
The D.C. Circuit affirmed that a work generated without human authorship is not copyrightable under the Copyright Act.
Recorded facts
| Official site | https://www.copyright.gov/ai/docs/court-of-appeals-decision-affirming-refusal-of-registration.pdf ↗ |
|---|---|
| Geography | United States |
| identifier | No. 23-5233 |
| parties | Stephen Thaler; Shira Perlmutter; U.S. Copyright Office |
| item type | appellate_court_decision |
| confidence | high |
| identifier | No. 23-5233 |
| filing date | unknown |
| jurisdiction | United States |
| adoption date | unknown |
| affected works | A Recent Entrance to Paradise |
| current status | affirmed_human_authorship_requirement |
| effective date | unknown |
| affected models | Creativity Machine |
| canonical title | Thaler v. Perlmutter |
| confidence basis | Primary document reviewed; status language is conservative. |
| enforcement date | unknown |
| affected datasets | unknown |
| issuing authority | U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit |
| primary documents | https://www.copyright.gov/ai/docs/court-of-appeals-decision-affirming-refusal-of-registration.pdf |
| procedural posture | Thaler v. Perlmutter: SCOTUS No. 25-449 cert DENIED 2026-03-02; D.C. Cir. No. 23-5233 opinion of 2025-03-18 (human-authorship requirement) stands; cert denial is not a merits ruling |
| unresolved questions | How much human contribution is sufficient when a human directs or edits an AI output. |
| affected entity types | AI system users; copyright applicants |
Sources & changes
Checked 10d ago · highhow verification works
Field-level evidence
Public change history
- Record maintenance · 2 fields updated
- Status unknown → unknown
- Official URL unknown → www.copyright.gov/ai/docs/court-of-appeals-decision-affirming-refusal-of-registration.pdf
- Record maintenance · 12 fields updated
Structured information, not legal advice.
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