Yes, if the work includes AI-generated material that is more than de minimis. The US Copyright Office’s registration guidance says applicants “have a duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content” and to briefly explain what the human author contributed. You use the Standard Application, describe your own contribution in the “Author Created” field, and exclude the AI-generated material under “Material Excluded”. Using AI-powered tools doesn’t always mean there’s anything to disclaim, and the Office will contact you if it needs more. Keep your drafts and version history, because they show which parts are yours. This is general information, not legal advice.
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Why the Copyright Office asks
US copyright protects only human authorship. In its March 2023 guidance, the Office explained that when an AI system “determines the expressive elements of its output, the generated material is not the product of human authorship” and must be disclaimed. Human contributions can still be protected, for example:
- text you wrote around or alongside AI-generated passages;
- a creative selection and arrangement of material;
- substantial changes you made to AI output, if they meet the usual standard for protection.
The Office’s January 2025 report, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability, reached similar conclusions and said prompts alone generally aren’t enough to make the user the author of the output.
What to put on the application
According to the guidance:
- Use the Standard Application. Other forms, such as the Single Application, have no field for disclaiming material.
- Author Created: briefly describe what a human contributed, for example “text” or “selection, coordination, and arrangement of [human-authored content] created by the author and [AI content] generated by artificial intelligence”.
- Material Excluded / Other: describe the AI-generated content, for example “[description of content] generated by artificial intelligence”.
- Note to CO: optional extra explanation.
- Don’t list the AI tool or its company as an author just because you used it.
- De minimis material doesn’t need to be disclaimed.
- Not sure? You can give a general statement that the work contains AI-generated material, and the Office will contact you.
The guidance also notes that ordinary tools, such as editing an image in Photoshop, don’t change who the author is, although AI-powered features in those tools are looked at in the same way as other AI output.
What if you already registered without disclosing?
The guidance says pending applications can be corrected by contacting the Office’s Public Information Office, and completed registrations by filing a supplementary registration. It warns that if information was left out, the Office may cancel a registration, and a court may disregard a registration if the applicant knowingly gave inaccurate information that would have led to refusal.
Records that help you describe your contribution
The application asks for a brief description of what you did. Disputes, publishers and prize committees may ask for more. These records make the answer easy to show:
- Drafts and versions, saved as separate files or in version history, at regular points.
- Your own notes, outlines and sketches from before any AI use.
- AI prompts and outputs you used, kept with dates, so you can show which parts came from the tool.
- Edit history that shows how you changed AI output.
- Dated records of the key files. A timestamp of each draft shows that exact draft existed no later than a certain time.
Using AI as a writing tool: how to keep a dated record of your drafts sets out a simple routine, and Draft History explains how to keep dated drafts. Songwriters can read can you copyright a song made with AI?
Where a timestamp fits, and where it doesn’t
TimeBinder® records your draft’s fingerprint on the Bitcoin blockchain. The fingerprint is made in your browser and the draft stays on your device. A TimeBind shows that the exact draft existed no later than the recorded time and still matches its fingerprint. It doesn’t show who wrote it, whether AI was used, or whether the work is protected by copyright. It is useful because it dates the steps in your process, and your drafts show what those steps were.
For the wider question of disclosure outside the Copyright Office, see when a prize winner discloses AI use: what writers should keep, and for the costs and steps of registering, how much it costs to register a copyright in the US.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Do I have to disclose that I used AI on a copyright application?
If the work contains AI-generated material that is more than de minimis, the Copyright Office says yes. You exclude that material and describe your own contribution. Minor or incidental AI use may need nothing disclaimed.
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Where do I disclose AI on the application?
In the Standard Application. Describe your own work in “Author Created” and the AI-generated content in “Material Excluded”, under “Other”. You can add more in “Note to CO”.
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Can I list ChatGPT or another AI as a co-author?
No. The guidance says applicants should not list an AI technology or the company that provided it as an author or co-author simply because they used it.
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What happens if I don’t disclose AI-generated content?
The Office may cancel the registration, and a court can disregard a registration if the applicant knowingly gave inaccurate information that would have led to refusal. Correct a pending or completed application using the steps in the guidance.
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Does a timestamp prove I didn’t use AI?
No. It shows when a specific draft existed. A series of dated drafts can help show how your work developed, which supports your description of your contribution.
Keep dated drafts as you write
Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, TimeBinds start from US$5, and an ASAP TimeBind is US$15. See plans and pricing
