Last year, Jason M. Allen won first place at the Colorado State Fair (the "Competition") for the two-dimensional artwork entitled Théâtre D'opéra Spatial (the "Work"), which he produced with the aid of Artificial Intelligence ("AI"). Despite receiving this accolade and Allen's arguments that he contributed significant creative elements to the AI-generated Work, his attempts to copyright the work have been unsuccessful.
As a result, the examiner asked Allen to disclaim or exclude from his copyright claim the portions of the work generated by AI. Allen did not agree to the request and continued to request copyright registration of the entire work. The Office rejected the request, stating that the work impermissibly "included 'inextricably merged, inseparable contributions' from both Mr. Allen and Midjourney."
Allen requested reconsideration on January 24, 2023, "arguing that the examiner had misapplied the human authorship requirement and that public policy favored registration." The Office again found that unless the portions Allen did not create were excluded, then copyright registration was not possible.
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