Generative Artificial Intelligence and Copyright Law (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 29, 2023 |
| Report Number |
LSB10922 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Christopher T. Zirpoli |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) are raising new questions about how copyright law principles
such as authorship, infringement, and fair use will apply to content created or used by AI. So-called
“generative AI” computer programs—such as Open AI’s DALL-E and ChatGPT programs, Stability AI’s
Stable Diffusion program, and Midjourney’s self-titled program—are able to generate new images, texts,
and other content (or “outputs”) in response to a user’s textual prompts (or “inputs”). These generative AI
programs are trained to generate such outputs partly by exposing them to large quantities of existing
works such as writings, photos, paintings, and other artworks. This Legal Sidebar explores questions that
courts and the U.S. Copyright Office have begun to confront regarding whether generative AI outputs
may be copyrighted and how generative AI might infringe copyrights in other works.
