The Top Things to Know About AI and Copyright

What if everything you thought you knew about copyright and AI was turned upside down? In this eye-opening episode of Designer Discussions, Maria takes us on a deep dive into the murky waters of AI-generated content and its legal implications for design professionals. Prepare to uncover the crucial distinctions between human-made creations and AI-generated images, and why the latter remains unprotected in the public domain. Through riveting examples and real-world scenarios, Maria reveals the essential updates you need to make to your client contracts, ensuring you stay ahead of the legal curve in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Beyond just the legalities, Maria stresses the importance of understanding the terms and conditions of AI platforms. Did you know that images created on free accounts are not only non-commercial but also must be clearly labeled with the platform name and creation date? This episode is a treasure trove of indispensable information, from the potential pitfalls of using AI in your design projects to the ethical obligations of giving proper credit. Tune in and arm yourself with the knowledge to navigate the intersection of design, AI, and copyright law like a pro. This is one episode you can't afford to miss.

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• https://www.designerdiscussions.com/episodes/episode-122-The-Top-Things-to-Know-About-AI-and-Copyright

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Designer Discussions is a partnership of three experts: Jason Lockhart, CEO of KABMS; Maria Martin, founder of DesignAppy; and Mirjam Lippuner, founder of Get Ink DIY

Episode Transcript

Mirjam Lippuner (00:00):
Welcome to Designer Discussions with Jason,
maria and Miriam.
Today, maria is going to talkabout the top things to know
about AI and copyright.

Jason Lockhart (00:12):
Welcome to Designer Discussions podcast
with Miriam.
Maria and Jason Tune in eachweek where we discuss marketing,
pr and business advice fordesign professionals.

Maria Martin (00:25):
Thanks, miriam.
I love this topic.
I think it's super interestingbecause we're watching an
evolution of how design is beingused within these public
platforms, and so I'm going toget into the weeds a little bit,
but I'm going to try to cover alot of things, and this episode
is about asking yourself reallygood questions so that you're

(00:49):
applying these new tools in away that you are aware of the
legal issues associated with it.
So, first off, what iscopyright?
We're not talking aboutcopyright with a W, which means
written information about yourbusiness.
We're talking about copyrightwith an R your rights to that

(01:13):
content.
And so, first things first, aihas been in litigation.
These generative AI platformsare being sued by companies like
Getty Images and all thesebusinesses because they are
using copyrighted content tocreate these AI-generated images

(01:34):
.
So it is encroaching oncopyright infringement.
So why is that important?
Human-made content iscopyrightable and can be owned
by someone, by the legalgovernment.
However, ai-generated contentis not copyrightable and it

(01:55):
isn't technically owned.
It's public, especially if it'son a public or free AI
generated platform.
And what does that mean fordesigners?
How does that impact you?
Well, number one, if you areusing a design and you are

(02:17):
seeding an image into a platformto create the content for your
client.
Just know that that informationis now within their knowledge
bank and that information willbe used to create more and
future content.
Those open platforms are alsocompletely searchable.

(02:37):
So if you want to jump intoMid-Journey Alpha, you can type
in the words of a type ofproject and a design concept and
see if something else pulls up.
It also has a nifty contentvisual that you can see where,
if you create an image, it'llgive you 40 other images that's

(03:00):
already created that are similarto your image.
So your images are going to popup, especially if someone's
trying to create something verysimilar to you.
So how does this all play out?
You will actually need to addinto your contract how your
client is allowed to useanything you have created with

(03:22):
AI, because it's automaticallyopen and anyone can access it
and use it as often as you want,and I've been talking with
ChatGPT and asking it manyquestions about these topics and
in some way, yes, we canprotect how we want our client

(03:44):
to use the content that wascreated by AI.
However, you will not haveexclusive ownership of anything
that you've created in there.
So what does that look like.
I think we need to putourselves in the shoes of the
client and think, wow, I justpaid a graphic designer to
create a logo for my businessand come to find out it's AI

(04:07):
generated and it isn't somethingthat was created by a human and
it isn't copyrightable.
Well then, that means your logois public domain and anyone can
use it and you have no legalstanding to pursue protection of
that logo.
You should read the guidelinesfor these AI platforms before

(04:31):
you use them, and I don't hear alot of people talking about
this and I don't see itimplemented.
But if you are using a platformto create an image, you are
supposed to not just say this isAI generated content.
You're supposed to credit theplatform that it was made on and
date it.
Credit the platform that it wasmade on and date it.

(04:56):
That is what your terms are.
If you are using theseplatforms and I don't think a
lot of people are in therereading these terms and
conditions, but I do think, asprofessional experts that are
presenting ourselves out thereif the images are not clearly
labeled with that information,then you are not doing it
correctly and I don't know whatthat looks like in the future if

(05:17):
those guidelines are not met.
If you read into the guidelinesas well, any images that are
created on a personal or freeaccount, all of that information
must be labeled and that cannotbe used commercially.
You do have to be paying on thepaid platform for anything that

(05:39):
is created to be used in acommercial sense.
So, even though you're using anopen, free platform to create
this content, the platform willallow your content to be public
to everyone, and you also haveto be a paid subscriber for that

(06:01):
to be used in any commercialway in the future.
So I, you know I asked AI.
I was like gosh, this seemspretty complicated.
How could anyone really protectAI content that is made as a
designer and then used for aclient?

(06:22):
And from what chat has beenable to say is well, you don't
have exclusive rights becauseyou are just being given an
opportunity to use themid-journey images with the
credit to mid-journey for makingthem.
Yes, other people will becreating similar images.

(06:43):
You will need to have some typeof client and designer
agreement where you set up somecustom terms where you have the
client agree that they will notreuse something based on the AI

(07:03):
images that you create.
However, you even have to givethem a timeline, because these
are public things that they willbe able to have access to.
You need to give them atimeline for when it was created
to, if they can ever use itagain, because technically, you
don't have exclusive rights toany of that.

(07:26):
The reality is, even if youcreate something for them for a
one-time use solution such afine line because technically,
they could input your solutioninto one of these platforms and
modify it and then, technically,they don't ever have to come
back to you.

(07:46):
And because of those things, weall need to understand in a
conservative way, how can wetruly implement AI images into
our design concepts withoutreally tripping over our own
feet?
And one of the things that thelanguage that we can use as

(08:08):
designers, because I think oneof the biggest problems right
now is that we don't understandhow to communicate to a client
why these low value solutionsare not the best solution for
them, without saying you knowthey're going to be wrong.
Something about these images isgoing to be off, there's going
to be an issue, you're going tohave a problem, but the reality

(08:30):
is, privacy is what you can payfor, and privacy, exclusivity,
are the values that exist withintruly human-made designs that
are never put in to any of theseAI platforms, and for value for

(08:52):
the client that hires you.
This is truly the largestreason for why they will pay you
the big bucks over just playingaround on one of these
platforms creating content.
Yes, you might have a clientwho pays you for something, and
then they put it into one ofthese platforms, reimagine it

(09:16):
and then they move forward withthat concept.
So, anything that you arecreating, make sure you are
being paid before thatinformation is delivered with
the pretense that your contractdoesn't protect you.
And so, now that we're playingaround with AI now it's been

(09:36):
around for going on its secondyear it's time for us to clean
up shop.
It's time for us to have thewords and the guidelines to
explain why human-generatedcontent is more valuable than
the AI images, and that the AIimages are not a true solution
for an exclusive design,something that is branded to

(09:57):
your client, something that theyhope to keep private in the
future.
And we have to be aware thatseeding our design images into
these platforms are justtraining it to perform tasks
that we do.
And so it's time, guys, let'sthink about this, let's put our
brains around it.

(10:17):
Let's start looking at what'sreally impacting us through the
terms and conditions of theplatforms, what that means to
our contract, and how these openplatforms are going to water
down what we do if we don'tstand up and protect ourselves.
So look at what control youhave over copyright.

(10:40):
If you were to use AI, check outthat you have to label your
images.
On the image, you have tocredit the platforms that it's
made, date it and note that itis AI-generated content.
Does that begin to devalue whatyou're creating and how you're
posting it?
So always remember you can useAI images.

(11:03):
They're great for ideation.
They're great as a replacementfor Pinterest, because you're
not using someone else'scopyrighted information for
those images.
However, draw a line, have aguideline within your business.
However, draw a line, have aguideline within your business
and know if you want to stepover it or not and where you
want to release privacy andexclusivity of your designs and

(11:24):
where your client is on boardwith what that strategy and plan
is.
So this should help you havemore awareness of what's going
on and give you opportunities toprotect yourself and protect
your design.
So don't go all in.
Just because you can doesn'tmean you should and, in the
instance of AI, the moreknowledge you have, the more

(11:47):
power.

Mirjam Lippuner (11:48):
Thanks so much, maria, for all this super
helpful information.
It's always enlightening tohear you speak about these
things that nobody else thinksabout, so we'll see you all back
here in two weeks for the nextepisode of Designer Discussions.
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Jason Lockhart (12:42):
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