Midjourney
AI-generated text. This page was generated using artificial intelligence.
Midjourney is an AI image-generation service. Its use in Zarya of the Dawn brought the relationship between user prompts and human authorship before the U.S. Copyright Office. The Office's February 21, 2023 decision examined how the service generated images from user inputs.[1]
Zarya of the Dawn
The Office determined that Kris Kashtanova's text and the selection, coordination and arrangement of the work's written and visual elements were protectable, while its Midjourney-generated images were not human-authored. It announced a replacement registration limited to the protected human contributions.[1]
The analysis distinguished influencing an image through prompts and iterative selection from controlling its expressive elements. It addressed the process and material presented in that registration record, rather than certifying every possible use or later version of Midjourney.[1]
Théâtre D’opéra Spatial
On September 5, 2023, the Review Board upheld refusal to register Jason Allen's Théâtre D’opéra Spatial as submitted. Allen described repeated prompting in Midjourney, followed by Photoshop edits and upscaling. The Board found more than a minimal amount of AI-generated material and required its exclusion from the claim. Allen declined to disclaim that material.[2]
This was a dispute over the scope of a copyright registration claim. The decision did not simply equate the use of an AI tool with the absence of any human contribution; it separated the generated material from the claimed human work.[2]
Related articles
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 U.S. Copyright Office, Zarya of the Dawn, February 21, 2023. Accessed September 12, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. Copyright Office Review Board, Théâtre D’opéra Spatial, September 5, 2023. Accessed September 12, 2026.