August 25, 2023 MDG

AI-14 Harmonies + Copyright Law

Earlier this year, I published a list of the 14 modalities of AI in song creation. (below list)
This name was inspired by the idea of harmonies, which are a fundamental aspect of music
composition.

Raising this list again because of a recent ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C.,
that artwork created by artificial intelligence is not eligible for copyright protection because
it lacks human authorship.

While I am not a lawyer, and don’t play one on TV this ruling seems to answer the
question of whether all AI-created works are ineligible for copyright protection, or if there
is a grey area for works that involve significant human input.

Anyone working with AI and music creation knows that there is a lot of human involvement
in all aspects of the process. Some key takeaways from the recent rulings on copyright protection
for AI-generated works include:


•Copyright law is based on the principle that copyright protection is only granted to works that

are the product of human creativity. In the DC ruling, the judge stated that “human authorship”
is the bedrock of copyright law.

•AI-generated works are not considered to be the product of human creativity, and therefore are
not eligible for copyright protection. The Copyright Office has denied registration for AI-generated
images.

•There is uncertainty about how this principle will apply to AI-generated works that are created
with significant human input.

These recent rulings suggest that the courts are still trying to reckkon with the challenges posed
by AI-generated works.  As value is created with the media the likely hood of aspects of this being
revisited by the courts is likely.

 

AI-14 Harmonies: Modalities Involving AI in Song Creation, Including Music Video

1. AI-Written (Music and Lyrics), AI-Sung
2. AI-Written (Music and Lyrics), Human-Sung
3. Human-Written (Music and Lyrics), AI-Sung
4. AI-Written Music, Human-Written Lyrics, Human-Sung
5. AI-Written Music, Human-Written Lyrics, AI-Sung
6. Human-Written Music, AI-Written Lyrics, Human-Sung
7. Human-Written Music, AI-Written Lyrics, AI-Sung
8. AI and Human Collaboration on Writing, Human-Sung
9. AI and Human Collaboration on Writing, AI-Sung
10. AI as a Music Producer (AI creates backing track, human writes lyrics), Human-Sung
11. AI Creates Music Video for Human-Written and Performed Song
12. AI Creates Music Video for AI-Written and Human-Performed Song
13. AI Creates Music Video for Human-Written and AI-Performed Song
14 . AI Creates Music Video for AI-Written and AI-Performed Song