If You’re Using Software to Generate AI, Be Careful of These Legal Issues

Regardless of what you may think of the ethics of using AI, or of using AI for creative reasons over using actual humans to do that kind of work, the fact remains that AI generated art, videos, logos, or sayings are becoming more and more common, and many see AI as a more cost effective alternative than using humans.

But many businesses using AI to do these kinds of things give little thought to the legal issues surrounding the use of AI for these kinds of projects—and many businesses don’t read their service contracts with any software that may be producing creative works for them.

Who Owns the Intellectual Property?

If you use an AI program or software to create something for your business, you may want to copyright that design or the text it has created. But can you legally do that if you didn’t create it but the AI did?

As a general rule, the standard AI apps that you might download on a phone don’t give you a creative license to copyright what the AI develops, nor to use whatever is created and ultimately used for commercial, money making purposes—you’d need to read the app terms of service for that, but don’t expect an extensive license or rights for the price of an app.

Service Contracts

If you are contracting with a larger AI development company, you may want to review your contract with them. You will want to negotiate both 1) the right to own, and thus, copyright or patent whatever the AI program develops for you and 2) ensure that you have a license to use whatever the AI creates for you for any and all commercial purposes.

Indemnification and Protection

You also need to be mindful of indemnification. AI doesn’t know whether it is generating something that is already owned by someone else. If your AI software develops a character or a design or a saying that is all too familiar with one that is already owned by someone else, who will pay infringement damages—you, or the AI company?

If you are the AI company, you’ll want the company to take the responsibility for ensuring that whatever is being registered or used by the company isn’t infringing. You don’t want your company being sued when you’re just in the software business. Although businesses may want indemnification from the AI software company, most aren’t in a position to offer that guarantee.

Sensitive Information

You’ll also want to ensure confidentiality; you may have to input sensitive confidential company information into the AI for it to do what you need it to do.

Who owns that data, and who is responsible for keeping it safe? Where is it being stored, or worse, sold? These are questions to ask and negotiate with an AI provider.

If you’re already using software or apps to generate AI content, now is the time to review or renegotiate those agreements, so you’re fully protected. Call the West Palm Beach commercial litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig to help you with your business contracts.

Sources:

techtarget.com/searchcontentmanagement/answer/Is-AI-generated-content-copyrighted