Today we are experiencing a world filled with bots and code, certainly in our online worlds. While we work to stumble our way from an Information Age to an Intelligent Age, we acknowledge, for at least this moment, the central role that humans play as we walk into the future. Medical researcher Rao remarked about this shift in his comments about the 2025 World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, “while the Information Age democratized access to data and digital tools, the Intelligent Age integrates intelligence into the very fabric of human activity. This era is defined by the seamless adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, robotics, and automation to revolutionize industries, governance, and daily life” (2025).
The goal of copyright law, after all, is to “promote the progress of science and the useful arts,” and to encourage a vibrant, active market (Congress.gov, n.d.). The complexity of technology in our world today has created opportunities for us to use it to manipulate the creation of new works. Such new works can include software programs and some program code, computer chips, and AI-generated works as we see in this copyright for technology timeline:
The ecosystem of copyright is flexible and has been expansive in its acceptance of new technological tools. Computers and “thinking machines” are inventions that are patentable to allow for inventors to earn a living off of their work. A computer is a machine that executes certain functions; while it can be patented, it cannot be copywritten.
1980s—Software (including games) can be copywritten
1984—The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act protects specialized design and layout of integrated circuits (integrated chips, microchips)
1990s—Websites and web content can be registered
2025—AI works are protected works, as long as they have human involvement in their creation, as upheld in the recent Thaler v. Perlmutter, 2025 decision. Read about library databases making use of AI tools for the benefit of your research: Blog: Library Databases and AI.
*Raw data or computer code that is simplistic in nature is not generally copyrightable; but add the element of creativity by the human hand, and that data or code can be transformed into a copyrightable work. Creativity may be present in the work’s “compilation, arrangement, organization, [or structure]” (Johnson, 2024). Courts in the US are continually hearing cases that test the boundaries of human agency in creation and fair use of expression in copyright law. As technology advances, the flexibility of copyright law will continue to explore—perhaps nudge—those boundaries. Check out Bellevue University Library’s Copyright Center for more copyright assistance, information, and updates!
Congress.gov. (n.d.). Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8: Overview of Congress’s power over intellectual property. Constitution Annotated. Retrieved from https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S8-C8-1/ALDE_00013060/
Copyright.gov U.S. Code Title 17 sections and more:
Johnson, B. (2024, October 17). Is the dataset you’re using protected by copyright? Here’s how to find out. Velocity of Content (Blog), Copyright Clearance Center. Retrieved from https://www.copyright.com/blog/is-the-dataset-youre-using-protected-by-copyright-heres-how-to-find-out/
Rao, S. (2025). Transitioning from the information age to the intelligent age: Lessons from Davos 2025. HBond Foundation. Retrieved from https://hbond.org/transitioning-from-the-information-age-to-the-intelligent-age-lessons-from-davos-2025/
Code Projected Over Woman photo by ThisIsEngineering and obtained from https://www.pexels.com/photo/code-projected-over-woman-3861969/ A white woman with long blond hair and wearing a sleeveless top is captured from chest up, standing with a colored blue, purple, and yellow lit image of computer code over her and onto the background wall. She has a neutral or blank, mouth-closed expression and her dark silhouette is cast behind her.
Tech Copyright Timeline created by Jean Turman using CanvaPro. A light gray background with four circular increments with black-and-white graphics inside that connect from left to right by graphic arrows. Leftmost circle is purple with an image of computer code on a screen and the caption reads “1980s Software;” the second is cream with a semiconductor chip and reads “1984 Semiconductor Chip Protection Act;” the third is teal with a globe and mouse arrow pointing to a www site and reads “1990s Internet websites and web content;” the fourth rightmost is periwinkle blue with a brain and AI nodules and reads “2025 AI works – created with human input.”
Thank you for visiting the Bellevue University Library Copyright Center, where we are ready to guide you on your path to understanding copyright. This guide offers numerous resources, including tips and tools, policy and compliance, library resources, overview of copyright law and terminology, and feature articles--all this is curated to provide you the basics for navigating copyright.
Here are some highlights of what we can offer you:
Librarian assistance for faculty and students
Search our collections and databases for the titles you seek
Research and contact copyright holder and status for licensing
Obtain copyright permission and licensing agreements
Approve and pay associated copyright fees
Provide permalinks for content you post in your learning management platform (Blackboard)
Provide resources for students
Provide plagiarism tutorials and guidance for citations
Need a refresh on copyright basics? Check out the feature article for a refresher on copyright!
Though copyright can feel woefully wearying, this article provides an overview of the Who–What–When–Where–How—and Why of copyright, in order to offer a navigable path toward understanding.