Decisions · Act · United Kingdom
CDPA 1988, section 9(3): computer-generated works
UK Parliament · 1988-11-15 · Legislation · Current
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s 9(3)
Can AI-generated work be protected?
Closer to AI output protected
Computer-generated works are protected; the 'author' is the human who made the arrangements
Why hereCloser to 'AI output protected', not at the pole: the Act protects computer-generated works with no human author, but vests authorship in the person who made the arrangements for the creation of the work, for a shorter term.
Holding
For a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work generated by computer with no human author, the author is taken to be the person by whom the arrangements necessary for its creation were undertaken.
The UK is unusual: it already has a rule for machine-made works, now central to the AI debate.
Sources
This record
Data as of 2026-10-21.
Drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources linked above; not yet reviewed by a lawyer. Methodology
Changes
- 2026-10-20Moved from the non-human author question to the question on protection of AI output.