How to disclose AI in a copyright registration (and on Amazon KDP)

If your work contains material an AI system generated, the US Copyright Office expects you to say so when you register it. This page shows how, field by field, using the Office's registration guidance of March 16, 2023. It also covers how to fix a filing you already made, and how Amazon's self-publishing platform asks the same question in a different way.

It is part of our section on AI and copyright. For why the Office draws the line where it does, see the Copyright Office's position on AI, explained.

01When you must disclose

The March 16, 2023 guidance says applicants "have a duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration." The test is whether the AI material is more than de minimis, meaning more than a trivial amount.

• Disclose: AI-generated images in a book, AI-written passages you kept, AI-generated music in a recording, AI art used as the base of your painting.
• Usually no need: AI used only as a helper on work you created, such as a spell check or grammar suggestion. The guidance says that in some cases "the use of an AI tool will not raise questions about human authorship."
• Not sure? The guidance allows a general statement that the work contains AI-generated material. The Office will contact you when it reviews the claim.

The underlying rule, that only human authorship is protected, is covered in whether you can copyright AI-generated content.

02Filling in the application

The field names below are the ones the March 16, 2023 guidance uses. The Office walked through the same steps in a webinar on June 28, 2023, and its January 29, 2025 announcement said more registration guidance is planned, so check the form's own help text when you file.

1. Use the Standard Application

The guidance says to use the Standard Application. Other forms, such as the Single Application, do not have fields for excluding material; the Single Application requires that all the content was created by the same individual.

2. Name only human authors

Do not list an AI tool, or the company that provides it, as an author or co-author "simply because" you used it.

3. Author Created: describe your part

In the "Author Created" field, briefly describe what the human author contributed. For a mixed work, the guidance suggests: "Selection, coordination, and arrangement of [describe human-authored content] created by the author and [describe AI content] generated by artificial intelligence."

4. Limitation of the Claim: exclude the AI material

Under "Limitation of the Claim," in the "Other" field under "Material Excluded," give a brief description such as "[description of content] generated by artificial intelligence." You do not need to name the tool. In its September 5, 2023 decision on Théâtre D'opéra Spatial, the Review Board said "applicants are not required to list the AI tools used."

5. Note to CO: add context if needed

You may add more detail in the "Note to CO" field (CO is the Copyright Office), for example how you edited or arranged the AI material.

03Fixing a registration you already filed

The guidance covers two cases.

• Still pending: contact the Copyright Office's Public Information Office and report that the application left out AI-generated material. Staff add a note to the record for the examiner.
• Already registered: file a supplementary registration. Describe your contribution in "Author Created," exclude the AI material in "Material Excluded/Other," and complete "New Material Added/Other." The Office's Circular 8 on supplementary registration (revised March 2021) explains the process; it adds to the record without cancelling the original registration.

Why bother? The guidance warns that applicants who do not update the record "risk losing the benefits of the registration." The Office may cancel a registration if essential information was left out. A court can also disregard a registration if the applicant knowingly gave inaccurate information that would have led to a refusal.

04Platform disclosures: KDP and others

Publishing platforms ask their own questions, with their own definitions. They are separate from the Copyright Office and from each other.

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing sets its rule in its KDP Content Guidelines, which we read on October 30, 2026 (the page shows no date). KDP says: "We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP." It splits AI use into two kinds:

• AI-generated: content "created by an AI-based tool," which counts as AI-generated "even if you applied substantial edits afterwards." This must be disclosed. It includes cover and interior images.
• AI-assisted: content you created yourself and improved with AI tools, or ideas you brainstormed with AI before writing yourself. KDP says you are not required to disclose this.

Notice that KDP's line is not the Copyright Office's line. KDP treats heavily edited AI text as AI-generated, while the Office may protect your substantial edits. Answer each form on its own terms. Other platforms, stores, magazines and contests have their own rules, so read each one before you submit.

A short public note to readers is a third, separate thing; see how to write an AI disclosure statement for readers.

05Examples

These sample entries follow the wording the March 16, 2023 guidance suggests. They are illustrations, not legal advice for your work.

If the stakes are high, such as a publishing contract or a dispute, talk to a lawyer licensed where you live before you file.