Théâtre D'opéra Spatial

Théâtre D'opéra Spatial is an image created by the generative artificial intelligence platform Midjourney, using a prompt by Jason Matthew Allen.[1] The painting became a news story when it won the 2022 Colorado State Fair's annual fine art competition on 5 September, becoming one of the first AI generated images to win such a prize.[2][3]

Théâtre D'opéra Spatial
ArtistMidjourney, using a prompt by Jason M. Allen
Year2022
MediumAI art using Midjourney

Winning the fair's contest for "digital arts/digitally-manipulated photography" led to a backlash from artists who accused Allen of cheating.[4] Allen responded: "I'm not going to apologize for it. I won, and I didn’t break any rules."[3]

The two category judges were unaware that Midjourney used AI to generate images, although they later said that had they known this, they would have awarded Allen the top prize anyway.[3]

The image, created using a text prompt, was upscaled using Gigapixel AI.[5]

In September 2023 the US Copyright Office review board found[6] that Théâtre D'Opéra Spatial was not eligible for copyright protection as the rules "exclude works produced by non-humans".[7] This decision reaffirms previous guidance given in respect of AI by the Office[8] and a recent court case (Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks[9]) that found against Thaler on the basis of a principle of human authorship that—though not enshrined in copyright law—is a working principle used by the US Copyright Office.

Allen insists he will fight on:

"Allen was dogged in his attempt to register his work. He sent a written explanation to the Copyright Office detailing how much he’d done to manipulate what Midjourney conjured, as well as how much he fiddled with the raw image, using Adobe Photoshop to fix flaws and Gigapixel AI to increase the size and resolution. He specified that creating the painting had required at least 624 text prompts and input revisions."[10]

Some legal writers support his claim[11] and consider it to be form of technological discrimination comparing it with the treatment of photographs and the modern use of electronic cameras.

Any legal challenge by Allen would be timely given that the US Copyright Office and the UK are consulting on the impact of AI.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. "AI Artwork Wins Art Competition: Are Imputing Text Prompts Enough To Become An Artist? - Dataconomy". 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  2. "Explained: The controversy surrounding the AI-generated artwork that won US competition". Firstpost. 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  3. Roose, Kevin (2022-09-02). "An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren't Happy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  4. Metz, Rachel (2022-09-03). "AI won an art contest, and artists are furious | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  5. "An AI-Generated Artwork Won First Place at a State Fair Fine Arts Competition, and Artists Are Pissed". www.vice.com. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  6. Second Request for Reconsideration for Refusal to Register Théâtre D’opéra Spatial (SR # 1-11743923581; Correspondence ID: 1-5T5320R)
  7. Helmore, Edward (24 September 2023). "An old master? No, it's an image AI just knocked up … and it can't be copyrighted". The Guardian.
  8. Copyright Registration Guidance:  Works Containing Material Generated  by Artificial Intelligence, March 16 2023
  9. Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks,
  10. Knibbs, Kate. "Why This Award-Winning Piece of AI Art Can't Be Copyrighted". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  11. Pink-Howitt, Peter (2023-10-04). "Copyright, AI and Generative Art". Ramparts. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  12. "Federal Register :: Request Access". unblock.federalregister.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  13. "The government's code of practice on copyright and AI". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-10-09.


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