U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (DCDC)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (ZFJ) — D.C. officials are suing federal authorities over their federalization of the district’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Washington officials contend that the federal government is exceeding its authority under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take temporary control of the MPD under a state of emergency. On Thursday, Aug. 14, MPD Chief Pamela A. Smith issued an executive order that directed police officers to share information about people not in their custody (such as during traffic stops) with immigration authorities.

Aug. 23 (ZFJ) — AI art generated “absent human involvement” is not eligible for copyright, ruled U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on Aug. 18, Friday. In her ruling for the federal district court in Washington, D.C., Howell upheld the U.S. Copyright Office’s denial of registration to computer scientist Stephen Thaler for the work he calls A Recent Entrance to Paradise. BACKGROUND Thaler, the plaintiff, owns an AI called the “Creativity Machine” that can generate visual works of art.