Ankit Sahni has been picked for his significant contribution to the artificial intelligence copyright ownership debate.
Sahni made history in December 2020 when he secured a copyright registration in which an AI tool was listed as a co-author.
This year, other major offices, such as the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the US Copyright Office, have examined the AI authorship question because of his efforts.
In February 2022, Sahni received a registration from the CIPO that recognised RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App as a co-author. It’s likely Canada's first such registration.
Sahni’s US application, however, didn’t achieve the same feat.
The US Copyright Office rejected Sahni’s application, although it did not base its refusal on the fact that the AI tool was one of the authors.
The refusal focused on the idea that the artwork wasn’t one of human authorship and that the office couldn't distinguish human contribution in the final output.
The US application is now pending a review before the Copyright Office.
Sahni also ran into a wall in India last November. The Copyright Office backtracked on its decision to grant registration to an AI-generated artwork and sent a notice of withdrawal to Sahni.
Sahni, however, fought back and responded to the notice in December. He argued that the Copyright Act did not contain any express provision that allowed the registrar of copyright to review his own decision.
India's Copyright Office hasn't issued any further communication to Sahni.
