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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday November 19 2019, @12:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the do-androids-dream? dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

The USPTO wants to know if artificial intelligence can own the content it creates

And it wants the public to weigh in

The US office responsible for patents and trademarks is trying to figure out how AI might call for changes to copyright law, and it's asking the public for opinions on the topic. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register last month saying it's seeking comments, as spotted by TorrentFreak.

The office is gathering information about the impact of artificial intelligence on copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights. It outlines thirteen specific questions, ranging from what happens if an AI creates a copyright-infringing work to if it's legal to feed an AI copyrighted material.

It starts off by asking if output made by AI without any creative involvement from a human should qualify as a work of authorship that's protectable by US copyright law. If not, then what degree of human involvement "would or should be sufficient so that the work qualifies for copyright protection?"

Other questions ask if the company that trains an AI should own the resulting work, and if it's okay to use copyrighted material to train an AI in the first place. "Should authors be recognized for this type of use of their works?" asks the office. "If so, how?"

The office, which, among other things, advises the government on copyright, often seeks public opinion to understand new developments and hear from people who actually deal with them. Earlier this year, the office similarly asked for public opinion on AI and patents.

"if it's really a push button thing, and you get a result, I don't think there's any copyright in that."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 19 2019, @05:59AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 19 2019, @05:59AM (#921851)

    We have quantum computers becoming commercially available, I wouldn't bet your farm that someone hasn't built one capable of true AI.

  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday November 19 2019, @04:51PM

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Tuesday November 19 2019, @04:51PM (#921990) Homepage Journal

    I'd bet the farm, six chickens and all rights to my life story that I'll be long dead before anything even approaching "strong AI" exists.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr