# Copyright and AI output: what the record says

Lesson 1 of [AI writing governance for teams](https://aiwriting.fyi/academy/ai-writing-governance.md), 20 minutes.

The US Copyright Office published Part 2 of its Copyright and Artificial Intelligence report in January 2025, analyzing whether AI outputs can be copyrighted. Its conclusions matter for anyone shipping AI-assisted work for clients.

## The core rule

Copyright needs human authorship. The Office concluded that purely AI-generated material, or material where a human has insufficient control over the expressive elements, is not copyrightable. Prompts alone do not provide sufficient control under current technology.

## What you can protect

Human authors are entitled to copyright in their own expressive work inside an AI output, and in the creative selection, coordination, arrangement or modification of AI-generated material. Using AI as a tool to assist human creativity does not affect protection for the output. The practical rule: your edits, structure, facts and arrangement are the protectable part.

## For a team

Keep drafts and revisions as the authorship record. Disclose AI assistance where it counts, including copyright registration, where the Office's 2023 guidance asks applicants to disclaim AI-generated material they did not author. Read each vendor's terms on ownership of generated text; contract terms can add rights the statute does not. This is US analysis; other countries differ.

## Sources

- [U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright and Artificial Intelligence](https://www.copyright.gov/ai/)
- [U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability (January 2025)](https://www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf)

Also on the [web page](https://aiwriting.fyi/academy/ai-writing-governance/copyright-and-ai-output).