Supreme Court declines to hear Thaler v. Perlmutter

On March 2, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Thaler v. Perlmutter, declining to review the D.C. Circuit’s ruling that works created entirely by AI are not eligible for copyright.

A cert denial is not an endorsement of the lower court’s reasoning. The practical effect is still significant. The human authorship requirement stands as U.S. law unless Congress changes it, which removes any near-term possibility that purely AI-generated code gains copyright protection on its own. Meaningful human creative input remains the price of ownership.

This page reflects current U.S. copyright law and general international principles. It is provided for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.