Out in the District of Colorado we finally have some recent news in the declaratory judgment action filed by Jason Allen, whose prompt-engineered visual work was denied copyright registration based on the Copyright Office’s strict view that “prompts alone” cannot generate a work of authorship based on the current AI generators. Allen seeks a federal court ruling that the Office is wrong.
Allen’s attorney, Tamara Pester, had sought to withdraw as counsel in part due to an upcoming medical procedure and in part based on Allen’s alleged failure to pay his attorney. Allen, however, did not consent because he hadn’t lined up a replacement before the filing of the motion.
Judge Martinez just rejected the motion:
“ORDER: This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion to Withdraw as Counsel and for a Continuance. The Plaintiff’s Motion is DENIED for lack of sufficient good cause shown. The Status Conference REMAINS SET for April 24, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom A801. This Order is without prejudice to Plaintiff’s counsel renewing her motion after the Status Conference. SO ORDERED by Judge William J. Martinez on 4/9/2025.”
DOWNLOAD THE MOTION BELOW