The Copyright Office’s refusal to register Théâtre D’Opéra Spatial should concern every creator. The Review Board held that because Midjourney contributed more than a de minimis amount of expression, the AI‑generated portions had to be disclaimed. When the artist refused, the Office rejected the entire claim.
The shame is obvious: this was an award‑winning artwork, celebrated at the Colorado State Fair, yet treated as uncopyrightable because the human and AI contributions were “inextricably intertwined.”
But let’s be clear: this is not “the law.” It is an administrative policy, not a judicial rule. No court has ever held that hybrid works fail. The only controlling case is Thaler v. Perlmutter, which deals solely with works created entirely by AI. Hybrid authorship is a factual question for litigants, and not examiners.
This is why I fight. Copyright belongs to the human author, and the public, not the Office, should determine the boundaries.
Sources:
- WIRED: Why This Award‑Winning Piece of AI Art Can’t Be Copyrighted
https://www.wired.com/story/ai-art-copyright-matthew-allen/ - U.S. Copyright Office Review Board Decision (PDF)
https://www.copyright.gov/rulings-filings/review-board/docs/Theatre-Dopera-Spatial.pdf