Artificial Intelligence (Generative) Resources

U.S. Copyright law as it relates to the use of AI tools is still evolving. On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a Notice of Inquiry on copyright and artificial intelligence to assess how it will advise Congress on the matter, and if any legislative or regulatory measures need to be taken. 

Are Generative AI tools violating U.S. Copyright Law?

This is still being determined. There are currently several court cases directly relating to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material as training data for Generative AI tools. Individual authors, artists, and companies are suing OpenAI, GitHub, and other companies for using their work when training their AI products.

A note about copyright vs plagiarism:

Copyright violation is an issue that is separate from plagiarism. While plagiarism can be considered fraud if funding is involved, it is largely considered an issue of research integrity and ethics rather than a legal matter. The question of whether generative AI tools are engaging in plagiarism when they scrape data to generate content is also currently being debated.

Can an AI tool retain copyright as an author?

Copyright law currently has a human authorship requirement, and according to recent guidance, when an AI technology "determines the expressive elements of its output, the generated material is not the product of human authorship." What this means is that AI-generated art and text is not copyrightable on its own. The issue of AI and authorship is also considered in the editorial policies of Nature and Science.

Can I register my work with the U.S. Copyright Office if it was partially authored by an AI tool?

This depends on the extent to which the AI tool is part of the creative process. The more human creativity involved, the more likely it is that you will be able to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. While you own the copyright to anything you create (or had a large part in the creation of), copyright registration is important as a public record of your copyright claim, which will be helpful to you if you are interested in licensing your work.

If you have any questions regarding the use of AI tools and copyright, please email librarycopyright@georgetown.edu.

Selected Readings

• Alter, A. & Harris, E. A. (2023, Sept. 20). Franzen, Grisham and Other Prominent Authors Sue OpenAI. The New York Times.
• "Copyright and artificial intelligence." (2023). U.S. Copyright Office. 
• Perlmutter, S. (2023, Mar. 10). Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence. U.S. Copyright Office.
• Small, Z. (2023, Aug. 21). As fight over A.I. artwork unfolds, judge rejects copyright claim. The New York Times.
• Vincent, J. (2023, Jun. 26). AI is killing the old web, and the new web struggles to be born. The Verge.
• Zirpoli, C.T. (2023, Sept. 21). Generative artificial intelligence and copyright law. Congressional Research Service.

Guidelines & Caveats

Many of the issues surrounding Generative AI are still evolving, including if and how GAI tools can be used in scholarly publishing. In December 2023, STM, an industry group for academic publishing, issued a set of guidelines for the use of Generative AI in the publishing process that emphasizes the following points, among others:

• It's important to differentiate between open GAI tools like ChatGPT and proprietary tools that can offer more security for authors, editorial teams, and readers
• Beyond basic editing and formatting, any use of GAI by authors submitting manuscripts should be disclosed, and authors should adhere to publisher's submission policies
• GAI tools should not be credited as authors, or used to create reviews of papers
• Human oversight is necessary

Several publishers and journals have issued policies and statements regarding the use of GAI tools, including APA, Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Elsevier. A group statement from the editors of bioethics and humanities journals emphasizes disclosure and the importance of having human reviewers. As GAI tools continue to develop, more guidelines for their ethical and practical use in scholarly publishing will likely emerge.