Several commenters asked: If AI companies don't have a copyright in works created by their programs, how can they be held liable under defamation law?
Defamation law and copyright law are two different bodies of law, aimed at serving different interests, and with different definitions. That's why people can routinely be sued for defamation even when their works aren't copyright protected. For instance,
[1.] The phrase "John Smith is a convicted child molester" is a short and simple phrase that's uncopyrightable. (Even if some highly creative short phrases might be copyrightable, the combination of a preexisting name and the preexisting "is a convicted child molester" phrase certainly isn't copyrightable.) Yet it could indeed be defamatory.
