Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability

Protection of AI output

Can AI-generated work be protected?

Only the human parts

Prompts alone are not enough; human expression in or around AI output stays protectable

What it says

The Office concludes that protection requires sufficient human control over a work's expressive elements. Prompts alone do not give that control, as models do not reliably follow them and fill in the gaps. Human-authored material that is perceptible in the output, and creative selection, arrangement or modification of AI output, remain protectable; no change in the law is needed.

The US government's settled position on AI-assisted works.

Sources