Last year at the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition, Jason M. Allen won first place in the digital art category with his piece “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial”. While undoubtedly a grand feat, what made it newsworthy was the fact that it was one of the first AI generated pieces to win such a prize.
However, much to Jason’s dismay, the US Copyright Office (CO) has denied his request to copyright this piece. According to IPupdate.com, the CO cites “inextricably merged, inseparable contributions” from both Allen and Midjourney (the AI tool used to help create the piece) as a reason for refusing to register this work.
Advancements in Art
Whether you agree with the decision to refuse copyrights to AI works or not, AI has helped push art into new realms of possibility. One such artist, going by Ugleh on Reddit, has begun an entirely new style of art that is created with the assistance of AI. Their work has been posted below.
Being generous about his methodologies, it took no time at all for people to respond with creations of their own following the same style. Below is a contribution from unitom13:
The US Copyright Office’s refusal to copyright Allen’s work has sparked a debate about the legal and ethical implications of AI-generated art. On the one hand, some argue that AI tools are simply tools that artists use to create their work, and that the artist should be considered the author of the work, regardless of how much input the AI had. On the other hand, others argue that AI tools are more than just tools, and that they play a significant role in the creative process. If AI tools are considered to be co-authors of AI-generated art, then it raises the question of who owns the copyright to the work.
The copyright dispute over Allen’s work is just the beginning of a complex conversation about the future of AI and art. As AI technology continues to develop, it is likely that we will see more and more AI-generated art being created. It remains to be seen how the law will evolve to address the unique challenges posed by AI-generated art.
