Thaler was trying to argue that the AI itself should hold the copyright for the images it generates.
Was he going that far? As far as I understand it, he was trying to claim that the AI was the author of the work and that he should hold the copyright under the work for hire clauses/being the owner of the AI.
Plaintiff Stephen Thaler owns a computer system he calls the “Creativity Machine,” which he claims generated a piece of visual art of its own accord. He sought to register the work for a copyright, listing the computer system as the author and explaining that the copyright should transfer to him as the owner of the machine.
Calling the machine the “author” is what I was describing in different words. He’s saying “I didn’t make this, the machine made this.” The court’s saying “well, the machine can’t hold copyright, so if you’re saying you didn’t make this then there’s no one who holds copyright. With no one holding copyright, that makes it public domain.”
Was he going that far? As far as I understand it, he was trying to claim that the AI was the author of the work and that he should hold the copyright under the work for hire clauses/being the owner of the AI.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thaler_v._Perlmutter,_Memorandum_Opinion_(Dkt._24)
Calling the machine the “author” is what I was describing in different words. He’s saying “I didn’t make this, the machine made this.” The court’s saying “well, the machine can’t hold copyright, so if you’re saying you didn’t make this then there’s no one who holds copyright. With no one holding copyright, that makes it public domain.”