U.S. Copyright Office's Questions about Generative AI

In late October, the Office received approximately 10,000 comments in response to the NOI questions. The Office expects to publish a report in 2024 offering its perspective on how these questions should be answered and perhaps recommending legislation. This column reviews various positions taken in a non-random sample of comments on the most significant questions raised in the NOI. One takeaway from my review of the NOI comments is that on none of those issues is there a consensus view among the commentaries I reviewed. The Office faces a tough choice: Should it simply describe the many differences of opinion about these issues without taking sides?