Zarya of the Dawn is a short comic book written by Kris Kashtanova and illustrated entirely with the artificial intelligence software Midjourney, which resulted in a copyright dispute.
| Zarya of the Dawn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Kris Kashtanova |
| Artist(s) | Midjourney |
Plot
editZarya awakens in an abandoned New York City with no memories. A postcard from a person named Rusty falls out of their pocket, allowing them to remember their name and home address. After returning home and getting new clothes, Zarya meets Raya, their "inter-world assistant", who tells Zarya that a mental health crisis in 2023 led to the almost complete destruction of life on earth. Raya then takes Zarya to Zatura World, the world of acceptance. There, Zarya meets a mysterious woman and learns to accept their feelings. When they return to Central Park, it is covered in greenhouses. Zarya remarks that "acceptance is the first step of letting go".
Copyright dispute
editIn September 2022, Kashtanova applied for the comic's copyright protection with the United States Copyright Office, but they did not disclose that the illustrations were created using Midjourney, an artificial intelligence image generator.[1] The comic was granted copyright protection, but the Copyright Office initiated a proceeding to revoke the protection of the artwork after discovering the fact.[2][3][4] The artwork's copyright protection was revoked in February 2023,[5][6] and the Copyright Office explained that only human-created works can receive protection.[7] Although the images themselves are not protected by copyright, the arrangement of the images and the text and story of the book are, as they are the creative work of Kashtanova and not the artificial intelligence.[8][9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Cronin, Brian (2022-12-21). "AI-Created Comic Could Be Deemed Ineligible for Copyright Protection". CBR. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ Khanna, Monit (2022-12-23). "Comic Book Made By AI Loses Copyright Protection". IndiaTimes. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ Hookway, James (2023-01-29). "AI Generated Art for a Comic Book. Human Artists Are Having a Fit". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ "AI-Generated Comic Book Could Lose Copyright Protection". AI Business. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
- ^ Brittain, Blake (2023-02-23). "AI-created images lose U.S. copyrights in test for new technology". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ Codega, Linda (2023-02-24). "An AI-Illustrated Comic Has Lost a Key Copyright Case". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ Sachs, Sam (2023-02-24). "US Copyright Office rules AI-generated artwork, content not legally protected". The Hill. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
- ^ Lawler, Richard (2023-02-23). "The US Copyright Office says you can't copyright Midjourney AI-generated images". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ Setty, Riddhi. "AI-Assisted 'Zarya of the Dawn' Comic Gets Partial Copyright Win". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
External links
edit- Zarya of the Dawn at AIcomicbooks