The short answer? No. Yes. Maybe. It depends.
It’s complicated.
Copyright law in the United States protects “original works of authorship.”
Those who would flat-out say NO argue that AI-generated content is not an original work of authorship because it is created by a machine.
Others argue that it is original because it originates from human creativity, not mention that the code that creates the artificial intelligence was created by a human.
In the United States, current copyright law requires that the author have a heartbeat (i.e., that the author is a human being). Without a human being’s creative input, AI generated content is not eligible for copyright protection.
So the question for the courts will be…
Can AI be considered a “person” under the law?
The swamp water gets even murkier when you delve deeper: If courts determine artificial intelligence is a “person,” then the AI itself would become the “original author.” But what if the AI was created by another AI?
I know, crazy right?
AI software code is copyrightable because it is the product of humans, that much is largely undisputable.
At the moment, the question of whether or not AI can be protected by copyright (or trademark) is both complex and highly debatable.
What should you do? Proceed with extreme caution. Know the law (as much as it even exists). And when you’re not sure, and your livelihood is at stake, hire a lawyer.
Have you covered your assets online?