(; ) is a

digital arts Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various names have ...

piece generated and

edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and ...

by an American man named Jason Michael Allen with the

generative artificial intelligence Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI, or GAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence that uses generative models to produce text, images, videos, or other forms of data. These models Machine learning, learn the underlyin ...

(GAI) model

Midjourney Midjourney is a generative artificial intelligence program and service created and hosted by the San Francisco-based independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. Midjourney generates images from natural language descriptions, called '' prompts'', ...

. It won the 2022

Colorado State Fair The Colorado State Fair is an event held annually in late August in Pueblo, Colorado. The state fair has been a tradition since October 9, 1872. The fairgrounds also host a number of other events during the rest of the year. Organizationally, ...

's annual

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

competition in the

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

category on August 29, becoming one of the first images made using GAI to win such a prize. Allen said he used at least 624 text prompts and revisions as inputs for Midjourney to create the initial image. He then edited it with

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc., Adobe for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital ...

and upscaled it using a tool called Gigapixel AI. The digital art category included 18 images by 11 participants. Allen submitted three and disclosed that he used Midjourney to create them. The two judges for the category later said they did not know that Midjourney used AI to generate images, but that they would have awarded Allen the top prize regardless. One, an

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

named Dagny McKinley, said it reminded her of

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

, while

Sebastian Smee Sebastian Smee is an Australian-born Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for ''The Washington Post'' and the author of several books on art history. Education and career Educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, St Peter's College, Adelaide, Smee ...

, an

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, said it reminded him of works by the French Symbolist painter

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism ...

. Allen had printed his three submissions on

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

for display at the fair; two were later sold for US$750. Though there was little contention about it at the fair, some artists on social media were more negative. Olga Robak, a spokeswoman for the

Colorado Department of Agriculture The Colorado Department of Agriculture is the principal department of the Colorado state government that manages agriculture, food safety, agriculture-related consumer protection, and conservation districts. Kate Greenberg was appointed as Commi ...

, compared it to ''

Comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

''. Allen responded that he did not break any rules. The Colorado State Fair began requiring its participants, starting in 2023, to disclose whether they used AI.

Copyright

On September 21, 2022, Allen submitted an application to the

United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists ...

(USCO) for registration of the image. Prior to the first formal refusal, the USCO Examiner requested for the request to exclude any features of the image generated by Midjourney. Allen declined, and requested copyright for the full image. In December 2022, the USCO issued a first formal refusal, noting that the image included "inextricably merged, inseparable contribution" from Allen and Midjourney. In January 2023, Allen filed a first request for reconsideration. In June 2023, the USCO continued the refusal, writing that the edits made using Photoshop could be registered but that the portion of the image created using Midjourney and Gigapixel AI had to be excluded. Allen filed a second request for reconsideration on July 12, 2023, arguing that case law as well as public policy reasons supported registration of the image. On September 5, 2023, the USCO Review Board made a final determination and found that was not eligible for copyright protection as the human creative input was ''

de minimis ''De minimis'' is a legal doctrine by which a court refuses to consider trifling matters. The name of the doctrine is a Latin expression meaning "pertaining to minimal things" or "with trifles", normally in the terms ("The praetor does not conce ...

'', with the AI-generated elements dominating. The rules "exclude works produced by non-humans". This decision continued the USCO's previous guidance given in respect to AI. Allen said he will continue to try to gain copyright registration.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre D'opera Spatial 2022 works 2022 in Colorado Digital artworks Artificial intelligence art Art controversies United States copyright law

Copyright

Notes

See also

References