Thaler v. Perlmutter: Why AI Can’t Hold a Copyright (and Why It Matters to You)
A man built an AI, told the Copyright Office the AI made a picture entirely on its own, and asked to register the machine as the author. The government said no, and in March 2025 a federal appeals court agreed: under US law, a copyright needs a human author. But the case is far narrower — and far more useful to you — than the scary headline suggests. Here’s the plain-English version, and exactly what it changes for creators who use AI tools.