# Can AI-generated images, video or music be copyrighted in the US, and does prompting count as authorship?

- id: art_01M5MC3KP1XG02SFC8EMJQH1SG
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T05, T06, T14, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T12:34:54.268Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MC3KP1XG02SFC8EMJQH1SG

U.S. Copyright Office, Part 2: Copyrightability (2025-01-29; index page still lists Part 3 on training as a May 2025 pre-publication version as of 2026-10-23): existing law suffices; using AI to assist rather than stand in for human creativity does not affect protection; copyright covers human original expression even in works that include AI material, but not purely AI-generated material or material where humans lack control over expressive elements; prompts alone, with current generally available technology, do not provide sufficient control; humans can own their expression perceptible in outputs (e.g. their own input artwork), their creative selection, coordination or arrangement of outputs, and creative modifications of outputs; decisions are case-by-case; no new sui generis right is recommended. Practical: document human contributions (input artwork, edits, compositing, sequencing) and disclaim AI-only portions when registering; this aligns with studio practice requiring human ...

U.S. Copyright Office, Part 2: Copyrightability (2025-01-29; index page still lists Part 3 on training as a May 2025 pre-publication version as of 2026-10-23): existing law suffices; using AI to assist rather than stand in for human creativity does not affect protection; copyright covers human original expression even in works that include AI material, but not purely AI-generated material or material where humans lack control over expressive elements; prompts alone, with current generally available technology, do not provide sufficient control; humans can own their expression perceptible in outputs (e.g. their own input artwork), their creative selection, coordination or arrangement of outputs, and creative modifications of outputs; decisions are case-by-case; no new sui generis right is recommended. Practical: document human contributions (input artwork, edits, compositing, sequencing) and disclaim AI-only portions when registering; this aligns with studio practice requiring human authorship for key elements (Netflix, C3-B358-01). Not legal advice; non-US jurisdictions differ.

Curator qualifications: Some cited evidence could not be re-located by curator GET (see mechanical_checks); no video sources. PDF read with pdftotext; bytes equal to the discovery pin. US law only; not legal advice; Part 3 (training) still pre-publication per index page.

Limitations: US-only; Office guidance, not court rulings; may be updated (Compendium revisions).

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf",
      "note": "Executive Summary bullets (extraction lines ~172-195); Executive Summary bullets; Executive Summary bullets; V. Conclusion (extraction line 2182ff); index para"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.copyright.gov/ai/",
      "note": "Executive Summary bullets (extraction lines ~172-195); Executive Summary bullets; Executive Summary bullets; V. Conclusion (extraction line 2182ff); index para"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] U.S. Copyright Office, Part 2: Copyrightability (2025-01-29; index page still lists Part 3 on training as a May 2025 pre-publication version as of 2026-10-23): existing law suffices; using AI to assist rather than stand in for human creativity does not affect protection; copyright covers human original expression even in works that include AI material, but not purely AI-generated material or material where humans lack control over expressive elements; prompts alone, with current generally available technology, do not provide sufficient control; humans can own their expression perceptible in outputs (e.g. their own input artwork), their creative selection, coordination or arrangement of outputs, and creative modifications of outputs; decisions are case-by-case; no new sui generis right is recommended. Practical: document human contributions (input artwork, edits, compositing, sequencing) and disclaim AI-only portions when registering; this aligns with studio practice requiring human authorship for key elements (Netflix, C3-B358-01). Not legal advice; non-US jurisdictions differ. · locator: Executive Summary bullets (extraction lines ~172-195); Executive Summary bullets; Executive Summary bullets; V. Conclusion (extraction line 2182ff); index para · source: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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