Key holding or allegation
The Registrar held that the work met the limited originality threshold, DABUS could not be an author, and on the applicant's factual account Thaler was the person capable of being identified as statutory author; the application was rejected because it continued to name DABUS as author and Thaler as owner.
Why it matters
Direct Indian administrative authority distinguishing originality, human/legal authorship and ownership for an AI-generated work.
Facts
The application identified DABUS as author and Dr Stephen Thaler as owner of A Recent Entrance to Paradise and was maintained on that basis despite an opportunity to amend.
Issues before the court
Whether DABUS could be recorded as author, whether the work met the originality threshold and who could be treated as the person causing the work to be created under section 2(d)(vi).
What the court did not decide
The order did not hold that AI-assisted or AI-generated works are categorically unprotectable, did not decide a corrected application naming Thaler as author, and is not a court precedent.
Procedural timeline
Registrar of Copyrights, India
Final administrative registration order: Registrar held the work met the limited originality threshold but DABUS could not be recorded as author; Thaler was the person capable of statutory authorship on the stated facts, yet the maintained DABUS-author/Thaler-owner application was rejected.