Supreme Court Declines to Review Decision on Copyright for AI-Generated Art

Issue 55

In 2018, AI system developer Stephen Thaler sought to register a piece of AI-generated art for copyright.[i] The AI-generated artwork can be viewed here. The application for copyright was denied on the grounds that the work lacked human authorship, a prerequisite for a valid copyright, according to the Register of Copyrights.[ii] Plaintiff filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the United States Copyright Office and Shira Perlmutter, in her official capacity as the Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office, challenging the denial.[iii] Upon summary judgment, the court affirmed the denial of the application for copyright on the basis that human authorship is an essential part of a valid copyright claim.[iv]

On October 11, 2023, Mr. Thaler filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[v] On March 18, 2025, the Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of plaintiff’s copyright application, finding that the Copyright Act “requires all eligible work to be authored in the first instance by a human being.”[vi] On May 2, 2025, Mr. Thaler filed a petition for rehearing en banc.[vii] On May 12, 2025, the Court of Appeals denied the petition for rehearing en banc.[viii]

On March 2, 2026, the United States Supreme Court denied Mr. Thaler’s petition for a writ of certiorari.[ix]

The Supreme Court also rejected a previous writ of certiorari from Mr. Thaler in a separate matter involving patent protection for AI-generated inventions.[x]

Thanks for being here.

Jennifer Ballard

Good Journey Consulting  

P.S. Have you considered whether your clients may have AI-related claims or liabilities? There are over 80 AI-related lawsuits I’m tracking in areas including copyright infringement, copyright and patent applications, privacy, discrimination, facial recognition, healthcare, libel, lie detection, wiretapping, FOIA, malware, school suspensions, deepfakes, wire fraud, wrongful death, and antitrust. You can find summaries of all of these cases in Chapter 4 of A Lawyer’s Practical Guide to AI.   

[i] Complaint at 4, Stephen Thaler v. Shira Perlmutter et al., No. 1:22-cv-01564 (D.D.C. 2022).

[ii] Memorandum Opinion at 1, Thaler.

[iii] Id.

[iv] Id.

[v] Notice of Appeal at 1, Thaler.

[vi] Opinion at 3, Stephen Thaler v. Shira Perlmutter et al., No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. filed Oct. 11, 2023).

[vii] Petition for Rehearing En Banc, Thaler.

[viii] Order, Thaler.

[ix] Thaler, petition for cert. denied (U.S. Mar. 2, 2026) (No. 25-449).

[x] Blake Brittain, US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material, Reuters (Mar. 2, 2026 7:01 PDT), https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-declines-hear-dispute-over-copyrights-ai-generated-material-2026-03-02/.