by Dennis Crouch
The very first provision of the Copyright Act is a curious definition:
An “anonymous work” is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no natural person is identified as author.
17 U.S.C. § 101. If Congress assumed every author must be a natural person, why would it need to define a category of works where no natural person is identified? That textual puzzle sits at the heart of Stephen Thaler’s newly filed reply brief in Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 25-449, which asks the Supreme Court to take up whether AI-generated works can receive copyright protection. The case has been distributed for the Court’s February 27, 2026, conference.
SCOTUSGate: Supreme Court Petition Tracker
I have created a new website: SCOTUSGate (scotusgate.com), a tool for tracking petitions for certiorari at the Supreme Court. The site aggregates docket entries, briefing schedules, conference dates, and amicus filings for pending petitions. Cases can be browsed by topic, court of origin, or conference date. The Thaler case page is at scotusgate.com/case.php?number=25-449.
The site also tracks cases flagged for response, relisted petitions, and CVSG orders, which are often early signals of the Court’s interest in a case. SCOTUSGate is really at an Alpha stage – a work in progress – and I welcome feedback. -Dennis
