[SamBam]

I was referring to the recent case against the artist Stephen Thaler, which people interpreted [1] as saying that works created by AI could not be copyrighted. This wasn't what was shown, though. Rather, the judge was ruling about a strawman argument framed by Thaler, where he explicitly stated that he was not the creator, and that he was listing the AI as an "artist for hire."

I don't see where in your link it says, as GP did, that "creations of a machine [...] are not eligible for copyright protection."

The guidance says that the author must be human, but that "In the case of works containing AI-generated material, the Office will consider whether the AI contributions are the result of “mechanical reproduction” or instead of an author’s “own original mental conception, to which [the author] gave visible form.”

The latter is copyrightable.

"This policy does not mean that technological tools cannot be part of the creative process. "

1. e.g. https://boingboing.net/2023/08/21/federal-judge-says-ai-gene...