The Copyright Office has a clear policy on AI.

An artist who infamously duped an art contest with an AI image is suing the U.S. Copyright Office over its refusal to register the image’s copyright.

In the lawsuit, Jason M. Allen asks a Colorado federal court to reverse the Copyright Office’s decision on his artwork Theatre D’opera Spatialbecause it was an expression of his creativity.

Reuters says the Copyright Office refused to comment on the case while Allen in a statement complains that the office’s decision “put me in a terrible position, with no recourse against others who are blatantly and repeatedly stealing my work.”

  • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
    35·
    2 months ago

    https://help.midjourney.com/en/articles/8150363-can-i-use-my-images-commercially

    reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Content You input into the Services, as well as any Assets produced by You through the Service.

    In no way does Midjourney own the image, they only have the ability to “reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute”.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      53·
      2 months ago

      That has absolutely nothing to do with who owns the copyright. I already quoted to you from their own ToS and linked to it.

      • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
        55·
        2 months ago

        It has everything to do with what the copyright gives them the right to do, which is: reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute". They cannot claim ownership of the art. If you were to create art that is illegal, they do not own it and are not responsible for that.

        And since you want to quote the TOS, here is the first part which you ignored:

        You own all Assets You create with the Services to the fullest extent possible under applicable law. There are some exceptions:

        Your ownership is subject to any obligations imposed by this Agreement and the rights of any third-parties.

        If you are a company or any employee of a company with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue, you must be subscribed to a “Pro” or “Mega” plan to own Your Assets.

        If you upscale the images of others, these images remain owned by the original creators.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          55·
          2 months ago

          You said it was based on the contract. The ToS literally says Midjourney owns the copyright. This is pretty cut-and-dried.

          • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
            85·
            2 months ago

            I’m getting really tired of trying to explain this to you. Their copyright does not give them ownership, it gives them very specific rights. These rights are:

            reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute

            If you create CSM with Midjourney, they are not the owners and it cannot be used to sue them. They don’t want that smoke. They do not want ownership. They make it very clear in the part you skipped over that you own your work, they simply own the right to “reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute”.