L117 · AI at work · 3 min
Copyright and AI images
AI images are easy to make and harder to own, so check the tool's terms and avoid copying real artists, brands or characters.
01 · The idea
Image generators learned from huge collections of pictures, and courts in several countries are still deciding what that means for artists. The rules differ by country and are changing.
In some places, including the United States, an image made entirely by AI without real human creative input may not be protected by copyright at all. That means others might be free to reuse it too.
The bigger risk for most people is making something that looks like someone else's work: a famous cartoon character, a brand logo, or a piece "in the style of" a living artist that is sold as your own.
For business use, read the image tool's terms, keep a note of how you made each image, and add your own edits. For anything important, like a logo or a book cover, ask a lawyer or use a designer.
02 · Do it now
03 · Quick check
Words in this lesson
See also
L296AI at work · 3 min
Restoring old family photos
AI can fix scratches, fading and blur in old photos, but it can also invent faces, so keep the original and label the new copy.
L297AI at work · 3 min
Making a picture from a description
An image generator draws from your words, so describing the subject, setting, style and mood clearly gets you much closer to what you pictured.
L061How AI thinks · 2 min
AI that makes pictures
Image generators start from random noise and clean it up, step by step, until it matches the words you typed.
L223AI at work · 2 min
Data privacy at work
Before you paste work data into an AI tool, check what your company allows and remove personal and confidential details.