Self-Styled "AI Artist" Furious That People Are "Blatantly Stealing My Work"

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Jason Allen, the AI "artist" whose image created with Midjourney won a fine arts competition two years ago, remains frustrated that the government refuses to grant copyright protection for his opus. In a striking lack of self-awareness, he is also claiming that his work is being stolen as a result.

Copyright Office Ruling

The prizewinning image, "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial," was deemed not to exhibit sufficient human authorship because a significant portion—as Allen himself acknowledged—was AI-generated. The US Copyright Office stated this in its ruling of September 2026.

As a result, Allen may claim credit only for the specific portions he created in Photoshop, not for the work as a whole.

Latest Appeal and Financial Claims

He is now filing another appeal, Creative Bloq reports, arguing that he is losing "several million dollars" because the absence of copyright allows others to use his work without permission. This argument may sound familiar to many.

"The Copyright Office's refusal to register Theatre D'Opera Spatial has put me in a terrible position, with no recourse against others who are blatantly and repeatedly stealing my work without compensation or credit," Allen said, as quoted by Creative Bloq.

The Irony of AI Training Data

The irony of Allen's complaints is unlikely to be lost on artists. Image-generating AI models were largely trained on countless artworks scraped from the internet without permission or compensation.

These AI services generate millions of dollars for investors and users while often reproducing or closely imitating existing art, with no payment or credit given to the original creators.

For these reasons, Midjourney—the service Allen used—is currently being sued by a group of artists alleging copyright infringement through the ingestion of their work. The lawsuit, which also targets Stability AI and other firms, was allowed to proceed in 2026 after the defendants sought dismissal.

Prompt Engineering and Legal Debate

With this and other precedent-setting cases still unresolved, the legal landscape remains unclear. In his latest appeal, Allen claims that the 624 prompt revisions required at least 110 hours of work, according to Creative Bloq.

He compares his prompt engineering to a film director's role. (In practice, requiring over 600 takes for a single scene would typically be viewed unfavorably in the film industry.)

"The refusal of the US Copyright Office to recognize human authorship in AI-assisted creations highlights a critical issue in modern intellectual property law," Tamara Pester, an IP attorney representing Allen, told Creative Bloq.

"As AI continues to evolve, it is imperative that our legal frameworks adapt to protect the rights of those who harness these technologies for creative expression."

Whether these arguments will influence the Copyright Office is uncertain. The central question remains whether the final image qualifies as Allen's original work, rather than the amount of time spent prompting the AI model.

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