Thaler v. Perlmutter, D.C. Circuit opinion (18 March 2025): the Copyright Act requires a human author (Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 18, 2025))
A work listed with a machine as its author cannot be registered. The court upheld the Copyright Office's human-authorship rule.
Dated 30 Oct 2026Source checked 30 Oct 2026Basis: primary text
In the source's own words
“As a matter of statutory law, the Copyright Act requires all work to be authored in the first instance by a human being.”
Where it was read
Figures it counts in
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
Cited in this guide