Just before finishing work for the year, the U.S. House of Representative’s bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence released its report. That document is over two hundred fifty pages long and covers everything from agriculture to national security. About twenty-five of those pages are dedicated to intellectual property, including copyright, which includes clear recognition of the importance of protecting American creators.
One of the biggest issues with AI is the fact that most of the biggest generative AI systems have been built by scraping millions, if not billions, of copyrighted works without permission, payment, or even notice to the copyright owner. The AI companies saved up money to litigate against copyright owners and about two dozen copyright infringement cases are pending around the country. The House report awaits the outcome of those cases, but notes that creators’ livelihoods are at stake, writing “While continued progress in AI is welcome, those advancements must not stifle the continued flourishing of human creativity…a legislative environment that fails to ensure creators’ IP rights are protected may harm America’s creative community.”
Another question is whether and when AI outputs can be copyrightable. The Copyright Office has published a “guidance” document, but many have criticized it. At 28 pages in length, it is hardly written to be accessible to independent creators. The House report likewise notes that the Copyright Office has left “questions unanswered” and “need further clarification.” The Copyright Office has stated its intent to revise that guidance in 2025 and also has committed to issue Parts 2 and 3 of its report on copyright and AI in 2025. We certainly hope these documents will provide clarity and strong support for the need to respect and enforce creators’ copyright rights.
The House report also mentions one other aspect of U.S. copyright law that we at RightsClick remind creators as often as we can, “Copyright protection is also limited unless the copyright is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office…registration enables the copyright owner to file an infringement lawsuit and to access the full scope of available remedies.”
Whether you want to protect your business and your work from AI-based theft or just ordinary unauthorized uses, the first step is registration with the Copyright Office. That’s why RightsClick makes it quick and easy to register and take control of your rights!
