Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against companies like OpenAI, Meta, Stability AI, and Anthropic. The idea–expression divide differentiates between ideas and expression, and states that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the ideas themselves. This principle, first clarified in the 1879 case of Baker v. Selden, has since been codified by the Copyright Act of 1976 at 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). In most jurisdictions the copyright holder must bear the cost of enforcing copyright.
A copyright holder need not transfer all rights completely, though many publishers will insist. Some of the rights may be transferred, or else the copyright holder may grant another party a non-exclusive license to copy or distribute the work in a particular region or for a specified period of time. Violating copyright laws can lead to severe legal repercussions, including statutory damages, fines, and even criminal liability in cases of willful infringement. Copyright holders have the right to file lawsuits to enforce their rights, which can result in costly settlements and reputational damage for the infringer.
How to Obtain Copyright Protection?
Copyright, like other intellectual property rights, is subject to a statutorily determined term. Once the term of a copyright has expired, the formerly copyrighted work enters the public domain and may be used or exploited by anyone without obtaining permission, and normally without payment. However, in paying public domain regimes the user may still have to pay royalties to the state or to an authors’ association.
In the United States, a patchwork of laws governs individuals’ likeness and voice rights, but there are gaps and inconsistencies in who is protected and against what types of conduct. We concluded there was an urgent need for a new federal right protecting all people—not just celebrities—from the unauthorized use of their likeness and voice. Copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or discoveries. This principle, sometimes called the “idea-expression dichotomy,” ensures that protection will extend only to the original elements that the author has contributed to a work, not to the work’s underlying ideas, which remain freely available to the public. This language gives Congress broad authority to advance knowledge (“Science” in 18th century parlance) by providing authors with certain exclusive rights over their works for limited times.
Works generated with the help of AI deserve copyright protection
Copyright is a legal protection for an original work of authorship that you produce. Copyright as an intellectual property protection covers many different things, and it’s important to know what is and isn’t able to be protected under copyright. With one important exception, you should assume that every work is protected by copyright unless you can establish that it is not. As mentioned above, you can’t rely on the presence or absence of a copyright notice (©) to make this determination, because a notice is not required for works published after March 1, 1989. And even for works published before 1989, the absence of a copyright notice may not affect the validity of the copyright — for example, if the author made diligent attempts to correct the situation.
Fair use is judged based on a four-factor test, which looks at things like how much content is used, whether the use is transformative, and the effect on the original work’s market. In exchange for the rights granted by a patent, the inventor is required to disclose (make public), their invention. A patent includes a disclosure (what the invention is, how it works and how to make it).
- In the United States, a patchwork of laws governs individuals’ likeness and voice rights, but there are gaps and inconsistencies in who is protected and against what types of conduct.
- If people can use AI models to write books, then an author might use AI to write a different book on regulating digital industries and it might be superior to mine and take some sales from me.
- In the face of this unprecedented challenge, copyright law cannot evolve to create a balanced outcome.
Trade secret law protects valuable commercial information that is kept secret, such as data, formulas, recipes, manufacturing processes, and customer lists. Famously, the only written formula for the Coca-Cola soft drink is kept in a secure vault and, according to the company, is known by only two people at one time. There’s no official registration for trade secrets – in fact, registering the secret would make it no longer a secret! But there are ways for other people to legitimately figure out your trade secrets, such as independently coming up with the same invention or through reverse engineering.
What role does a copyright notice play?
Copyright’s incentive to the production of content would not apply to AI-generated works and there would be fewer such works produced. It is widely recognized that AI output that is substantially similar to existing copyrighted works would be infringing. For that reason, AI companies take pains to screen their output to ensure it does not duplicate existing works.
Allowing authors to monopolize their ideas would thwart the underlying purpose of copyright law, which is to encourage people to create new work. But the “substantially similar” standard does not protect authors and artists when an AI system generates output that mimics their identifiable style. This can be extraordinarily damaging to their livelihood, especially because competitors can use AI models to produce vast amounts of mimicking content. Commentators including law professor Benjamin Sobel have noted the difficulties in extending copyright-like protection to identifiable styles. The problem with these measures is that they presuppose that the fair use defense has failed. If training on copyrighted works without permission is fair use, then there is no purpose to these required disclosures.
- After a term of protection expires, the work falls into the public domain, and the copyright holder loses his or her rights.
- However, an original color scheme or unique typography in a design or logo may be protected if it qualifies as a copyrighted work.
- Below is a basic introduction to U.S. copyright law — what it protects, how long it lasts, the rights it grants to authors, and its exceptions and limitations.
- We partner with trusted, copyright-friendly brands like Storyblocks and Getty Images, giving users access to millions of royalty-free clips and tracks that are cleared for commercial use.
Take a recipe or product assembly guide—the steps themselves aren’t protected, but the written or visual presentation may qualify for copyright protection. Only the expression of ideas is protected by copyright—not the ideas themselves. You cannot obtain copyright for a general concept, only for how it is expressed. This category covers artistic creations like paintings, drawings, sculptures, and illustrations. This copyright protection extends to creative designs that are expressed visually, such as jewelry design, furniture design, and toy design.
Copyrightable works include literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as books, plays, music, lyrics, paintings, sculptures, video games, movies, sound recordings, and software. Copyright protection is not indefinite – exclusive rights are granted to creators for only a limited period of time. The duration of copyright protection depends on a variety of factors, including who created the work and whether it was published. However, in general, copyright protection will exist during the creator’s lifetime and then for an additional 70 years. The length of the term can depend on several factors, including the type of work (e.g. musical composition, novel), whether the work has been published, and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation.
Free licenses
This underscores the idea that information itself is not copyrightable, only the specific arrangements or presentations of it. Yes, copyright laws vary by country, but international copyright treaties provide some protection across borders. In China, a court recently recognized copyright in a picture created using AI, finding a human author exercised sufficient creativity in prompting the AI tool and then revising the output. And South Korea has registered an AI-created film as a compilation, based on the human creativity that went into the selection, coordination, and arrangement of its AI-generated components.
The length of time during which an author has copyright protection in their work depends on when the work was created. Work that was created and fixed on or after January 1, 1978 is protected for a term of the author’s life plus 70 years. When there are two or more authors of a joint work, the term continues for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. Works for hire are protected for the lesser of 95 years from the first publication or 120 years from creation.
Copyright owners have the right to grant licenses that specify how their work can be used, whether for commercial, educational, or creative purposes. Some creators choose to make their work available under open licenses, such as Creative Commons, which allow users to share and adapt content under specified conditions. Understanding the terms of such licenses is essential to ensuring compliance with copyright law. A copyright and patent lawyer can assist in drafting and reviewing licensing agreements to prevent legal conflicts. A copyright is a federally granted property right that protects rights holders from certain unauthorized uses of their original works of authorship. The subject matter eligible for protection is set forth in the Copyright Act of 1976.
For example, if someone mutilates a mural that is recognized as a work of great value, the painter has the right to sue the person who mutilated the work. VARA covers only fine arts such as paintings, drawings, prints, still photographs for exhibition, and sculptures. NYU Libraries supports the university’s research, teaching, and service mission by providing guidance for faculty, students, and staff on how copyright relates to the creation, use, and sharing of knowledge. Original work in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please attribute this work to the NYU Libraries Scholarly Communications and Information Policy Department.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of copyright a copyright protects an law is the doctrine of fair use. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission, particularly for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Courts consider several factors when determining whether a particular use qualifies as fair use, including the purpose of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used, and the effect on the market value of the original work. While fair use provides flexibility, it is not a blanket excuse for using copyrighted content freely—misapplication of the doctrine can still lead to legal consequences. A copyright lawyer consultation can help determine whether a specific use falls under fair use or constitutes infringement.
