Who owns what you make with AI

What it is good at

• Separates the three variables that actually determine ownership instead of pretending there is one universal rule.
• Points you to the two documents you can actually read yourself before paying for legal advice.
• Explains why "purely AI-generated" and "AI-assisted" are treated differently in several jurisdictions.
• Gives a practical habit, keeping your process records, that helps regardless of how the law develops.

Where it falls short

• This is not legal advice, and copyright law around AI output is actively being tested in courts and updated by regulators as this is written.
• Rules differ meaningfully between countries, and a tool's terms of service can also change without much notice.
• A tool's terms of service govern your relationship with that company; they do not automatically settle copyright law itself.

How to use it for creative work

1. 01

   Read the tool's own terms on output ownership

   Most major AI tools state, in their terms of service, what rights they claim over the output you generate and what rights they grant you. Search the terms page for "output" or "ownership" rather than assuming based on the tool's reputation.

2. 02

   Note your jurisdiction

   Copyright offices in different countries have taken different public positions on whether purely machine-generated work (with no meaningful human authorship) can be copyrighted at all. Identify which country's law applies to your situation, usually where you or your business are based, or where you plan to sell.

3. 03

   Track how much you changed

   Work that started as an AI output and was then substantially edited, combined and directed by a human sits differently to raw, unedited output. Keep a note of your edits and creative decisions as you go, in case ownership is ever questioned.

4. 04

   Check any client or platform contract

   Some clients, competitions or platforms have their own rules about AI-assisted work, separate from copyright law itself. Read the brief or terms before you submit AI-assisted work as your own.

5. 05

   Get specific advice for anything valuable

   If a piece of AI-assisted work is going to be sold, licensed, trademarked or is central to a business, a qualified intellectual property solicitor in your jurisdiction should confirm your position before you rely on it commercially.

Ready-to-use prompts

I am going to paste the output-ownership section of an AI tool's terms of service. Summarise in plain English what rights I am granted over what I create, and what rights the company keeps: [paste terms text].

Help me write a short, factual process note describing how I created [piece of work]: which AI tool generated the starting material, and what specific creative decisions and edits I made afterwards. Keep it factual, not promotional.

Read this client brief or competition rules and tell me if it says anything explicit about AI-assisted work, disclosure requirements or ownership of submissions: [paste brief].

I am meeting an IP solicitor about a piece of AI-assisted work I want to [sell/license/trademark]. Write me eight specific questions to ask them, based on this description of what I made and how: [describe the work].

Write two calm, honest sentences I can send a client explaining that a specific piece of work involved AI assistance, without overstating or understating my role in creating it.

Questions people ask

If I generate an image with AI, do I automatically own it?

Not automatically and not everywhere, this depends on the tool's terms of service and on your country's current position on authorship of AI-assisted work, so check both rather than assuming.

Does editing an AI image myself change the ownership position?

In several jurisdictions, meaningful human creative input on top of a raw AI output is treated more favourably than an unedited output, but the exact threshold varies and is still being tested, so this needs a current, country-specific check.

Should I just ask a lawyer instead of researching this myself?

For anything you plan to sell, license or defend commercially, yes, a qualified IP solicitor in your own jurisdiction can give you a current, specific answer that a general guide like this one cannot.