US feds say AI-generated prompt outputs can't be copyrighted

If you use an AI image or text generator to make a work of "art," does it belong to you? That's a huge question hanging over the heads of anyone tempted to use AI tools for commercial products. Crucially, simply plugging prompts into an AI image generator or text generator does NOT meet this burden. Because the author (or artist, or other relevant creative term) of a work is defined as "the person who translates an idea into a fixed, tangible expression," an AI system cannot meet this burden, even though it's using input from a human to generate its output. Commenting on established case law, the report says that "…the Supreme Court has made clear that originality is required, not just time and effort."