The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is testing the limits of copyright law and forcing courts to reconsider the very definition of authorship. This program will unpack the constitutional and statutory underpinnings of copyright protection, with particular attention to the longstanding human authorship requirement. Through landmark cases such as Naruto v. Slater and Thaler v. Perlmutter, participants will see how courts have dealt with non-human creators and consider whether legislative reforms could offer clearer guidance moving forward.

Beyond authorship, the course turns to the increasingly contentious issue of training AI systems with copyrighted works. Attendees will explore how generative AI models operate, why their reliance on protected material has triggered infringement claims, and what lessons can be drawn from cases like Capitol Records v. ReDigi, Bartz v. Anthropic, and Kadrey v. Meta. The session concludes with a forward-looking discussion on licensing practices for AI developers, the provocative question of whether sentient AI could ever claim copyright, and the broader implications for intellectual property law in a machine-driven era.