On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Copyright Office announced that it would delay the release of Parts 2 and 3 of its report on copyright and AI until after January 1, 2025.
The report follows an August 2023 Notice of Inquiry about AI-related copyright issues, which sought input on whether AI impacts areas not currently protected by copyright law, such as publicity rights. The inquiry gathered over 10,000 comments from various stakeholders, helping to assess the current legal landscape and identify issues needing congressional action.
Part 1 of the report, released on July 31, focused on “digital replicas”—digitally created or manipulated images and recordings of individuals. It argued that existing laws, including privacy and right of publicity, are inadequate for protecting digital replicas and recommended new federal legislation to protect individuals from unauthorized distribution of such content. The Copyright Office described this as an “urgent” issue due to its potential for misinformation and exploitation.
Parts 2 and 3, still pending, are of significant interest to content creators and AI developers, as they may influence copyright ownership and protection. Part 2 will address the copyrightability of AI-generated works, focusing on how human involvement in creation affects registrability. Current law requires human authorship for a work to be copyrighted, though assistive tools (like cameras or software) are commonly used in creation. The Copyright Office aims to clarify how this applies to AI-generated content.
Part 3 will explore issues related to training data for AI models, which often use copyrighted materials to learn and generate outputs. Lawsuits, such as the one filed by The New York Times against Microsoft and OpenAI, challenge whether using this data constitutes copyright infringement, with key debates over fair use and whether AI’s use of data is “transformative.” The Copyright Office’s guidance will help clarify these complex issues.
AI holds vast potential to enhance culture, yet its impact on copyright law, particularly regarding authorship and creators’ rights, remains to be fully addressed. The outcomes of Parts 2 and 3 will be crucial for shaping the future of AI and copyright legislation. Our DC IP attorneys will be keeping a close eye on the release of Parts 2 and 3.