Human-authored expression may support protection: For US copyrightability analysis, which assumption is most
US copyrightability can attach to qualifying human expression within AI-assisted work, not automatically to the entire output or none of it.
The question
A US employer uses an AI assistant to draft an internal training manual. An employee substantially rewrites sections, selects and arranges examples, and creates original diagrams, while other passages remain machine-determined. For US copyrightability analysis, which assumption is most defensible?
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- No portion can be protected because AI was involved.AI involvement does not automatically defeat protection where a human contributes qualifying expression through selection, arrangement, or modification.
- The entire manual is protected because AI assisted drafting.AI assistance does not automatically establish protection for every passage, especially where expression remains machine-determined.
- The employee’s prompts alone establish authorship of every passage.Prompts alone do not necessarily establish authorship of machine-determined expression, particularly when human expressive contribution varies by passage.
- Human-authored expression may support protection. ✓Original human selection, arrangement, modification, and diagrams may support protection for those expressive elements, while machine-determined passages require separate analysis.
The trap
Analyze expressive human contribution at the relevant portions of the work, rather than classifying the entire output uniformly. How to remember it
US copyrightability can attach to qualifying human expression within AI-assisted work, not automatically to the entire output or none of it.
How many of these would you get right?
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