# Ninth Circuit backs GitHub Copilot in copyright-tag case

Published: 2026-09-16T23:13:17.294Z · Source: Chat GPT Is Eating the World (https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2026/09/16/9th-circuit-issues-major-ai-ruling-affirming-dismissal-of-cmi-removal-claim-related-to-ai-outputs-doe-1-v-github-is-1st-circuit-precedent/)
Source date: 2026-09-16
Entities: ai-litigation

The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a claim that GitHub's Copilot coding assistant violated copyright law by stripping copyright management information (CMI) — the ownership and licensing tags attached to code — when it generated new code. The court agreed with the district court that producing a new AI output isn't the same as removing tags from an existing copy, but rejected the lower court's specific reasoning for reaching that result, calling its "identicality requirement" a misnomer and declining to endorse it. Per Chat GPT Is Eating the World, it's the first federal circuit-court ruling on this DMCA question for AI outputs, decided in Doe 1 v. GitHub (No. 24-7700) on Sept. 16, 2026.

Why it matters: It's the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on this specific DMCA question for AI outputs, so district courts elsewhere now have circuit-level guidance on a claim other AI copyright plaintiffs have also raised.

## What this answers

**Did a court rule that AI output can remove a copyright notice?**

No — the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a claim that GitHub Copilot violated copyright law by stripping copyright management information, agreeing that generating a new AI output isn't the same as removing information from an existing copy, in Doe 1 v. GitHub (No. 24-7700), decided Sept. 16, 2026.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-09-16-ninth-circuit-backs-github-copilot-in-copyright-tag-case/
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