Journal of Organizational Behavior Education 13: 29-48. 2020 NeilsonJournals Publishing. Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Who Owns Property Created by an Algorithm or a Robot? Schiemer, J., Tawse, N., and O’Rourke, J. S. University of Notre Dame, USA Abstract. The University of Surrey has filed multiple patents in the United Kingdom on behalf of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robot, Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience (DABUS). The two ideas were artificially created by DABUS without any human intervention, but for centuries, intellectual property ownership has been created on behalf of humans. With improving computing power and abilities of Artificial Intelligence, the need to copyright for non-human beings is being called to question. This case study analyses the question: should the University of Surrey, or any other entity, be allowed to apply for intellectual property protection on behalf of an AI robot or algorithm? Keywords: computing power, copyright, non-human beings. 1. Introduction Hiring a guide to photograph exotic animals usually gets one close to the action. Not as close as David Slater, a British photojournalist, expected to be on a 2008 trip to a small national park to the north of the Sulawesi island of Indonesia. Slater wanted to photograph the Crested Black Macaque, a primate that is extremely rare and critically endangered. Out in the wild, some friendly apes became interested in Slater’s equipment. At first, he was fascinated that the primates were curious about their reflection in the lens, but then they suddenly grabbed a camera and started snapping photos of themselves. “One of them must have accidentally knocked the camera and set it off because the sound caused a bit of a frenzy,” David told the Telegraph. “At first there was a lot of grimacing with their teeth showing because it was probably the first time they had ever seen a reflection.” 1 These “selfies” went viral in 2011 when the media reported on Slater’s experiences. As the story erupted, one question arose from this situation: Who owned the photos? This case was prepared by research assistants Schiemer, J. and Tawse, N. under the direction of James S. O’Rourke IV, Teaching Professor of Management, as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Information was gathered from corporate as well as public sources. Copyright ©2020. Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication. All rights reserved. NeilsonJournals Publishing has been granted a licence to publish this case study in JOBE in print and online. Subscribers are granted a licence to make 1 copy of the paper for inspection use only. For multiple copy orders and reprint permissions contact Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication.