Intellectual Property Protection, Work Made For Hire Doctrine, Authorship

I Paid for That Software to Be Developed, So Why Don’t I Own It?

Amundsen Davis LLC on 5/22/2025

You may believe that your company has an unfettered right to do what it wants with a computer program created by its workers—but that may not be the case. Consider the two similar scenarios below: Suppose that your...more

Client Alert: Can Works Made with Generative AI be Copyrighted?

Whiteford on 2/21/2025

In response to the increased use of sophisticated artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies capable of producing expressive material, the U.S. Copyright Office (“CO”) published a two-part series on the copyrightability of...more

Understanding the Work Made for Hire Doctrine in Copyright Law - Part 1

Venable LLP on 6/14/2024

Understanding the work made for hire doctrine under the Copyright Act of 1976 is key for effective intellectual property management. The default ownership rule under the Copyright Act provides ownership to the author (i.e.,...more

Court Finds AI-Generated Work Not Copyrightable for Failure to Meet "Human Authorship" Requirement—But Questions Remain

Jones Day on 8/31/2023

In Short - The Background: Generative artificial intelligence ("GenAI") tools allow individuals to readily generate content, including works that traditionally would be copyrightable if authored by a human being, such as...more

District Court Rules that AI-Generated Works Cannot Be Copyrighted

Morrison & Foerster LLP on 8/30/2023

The D.C. district court recently affirmed the U.S. Copyright Office’s position that a work generated entirely by artificial intelligence (AI) technology is not eligible for copyright protection. The case is Stephen Thaler v....more

Italian Film Composer “Scores” for Authors

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/30/2019

The Second Circuit issued a remarkable decision on termination rights under Sections 203 and 304(c) of the Copyright Act that seemingly, whether knowingly or otherwise, limits the Act’s extraterritorial reach. Ennio Morricone...more