Magnani Quoted in LegalTech News on AI Copyright Registration Case

Thomas Magnani, head of the Technology Transactions practice and co-chair of the Technology, Media, & Telecommunications industry group, was featured in the recent Legaltech News article, "Monkeys, Holy Spirits, AI—It's All the Same for the U.S. Copyright Office." The story discusses a case involving copyright registration for a comic generated by humans and AI. The United States Copyright Office (USCO) initially granted the registration but later revoked it, sparking a discussion on the decision's legality. 

Magnani proposed that the USCO might consider whether certain AI-generated work (e.g., a short film) could qualify as a work made for hire under the Copyright Act, but speculated that the Copyright Office might rule that an AI-generated work cannot qualify as a work made for hire because AI does not have the capacity to enter into a work made for hire agreement, which is a requirement of the Copyright Act.  Magnani also noted that the recently published Copyright Office guidelines for AI-generated work probably reach the limit of what the Copyright Office can do without congressional intervention.

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