Can I use AI images, and who owns them?

The short version

• The US Copyright Office says prompts alone don’t make you the author of an AI image.
• So a purely AI-made image likely has no copyright, and you can’t stop others copying it.
• Your own edits, selection and arrangement can be protected.
• Read each tool’s terms, and don’t create images of real people, logos or other brands.
• Show real photos of your work, team and place. This isn’t legal advice.

What does the Copyright Office say?

The U.S. Copyright Office’s AI page lists its work on this so far:

• March 16, 2023: registration guidance for works that contain AI-generated material.
• July 31, 2024: Part 1 of its report, on digital replicas.
• January 29, 2025: Part 2, on whether AI outputs can be copyrighted.
• May 9, 2025: Part 3, on training AI models, released as a pre-publication version. A final version is still to come.

Prompts aren’t enough

The Office’s Part 2 announcement says copyright can protect material where a human has determined enough of the expressive elements, but not through “the mere provision of prompts.” Typing a description, even a long one, doesn’t make you the author of the picture.

Human work still counts

The same report says protection can cover “creative arrangements or modifications of the output.” Using AI to help with part of a work doesn’t block copyright in the human parts. And including AI material in a larger human-made work, like a brochure you designed, doesn’t stop the brochure from being protected. The Office didn’t recommend new laws to give AI outputs more protection.

Registering a work with AI in it

The Office’s registration guidance asks applicants to disclose AI-generated material that is more than minor, and to exclude it from the claim. On the application, that goes in the Limitation of Claim section, under Material Excluded, with a brief description. Most small businesses never register their website images, but it matters for a book, a course or a product design.

What does that mean for my website?

• Blog headers and simple illustrations: generally fine if the tool’s terms allow business use. Just know a competitor could use the same image and you’d have little to stop them.
• A logo: think twice. If the logo is purely AI-made, your copyright claim to it is weak. Trademark is a separate area of law; ask a lawyer before you invest in a brand built on an AI image.
• Photos of your work: use real ones. Customers judging a roofer, a bakery or a dentist want to see the real roof, cake or office. Our answer on stock or real photos explains why.
• Your team: never use AI-made people as “our staff.” Google’s helpful content guidance warns against AI-generated headshots and made-up names. It’s also misleading to customers.

Why does this matter?

Two risks sit side by side. One is that you can’t protect what you paid for, which hurts most with logos and products. The other is trust. A realistic AI photo of a “finished job” that never happened misleads customers, and our guide to what the FTC says about AI explains why deception is a legal issue, not only a manners one.

If you sell products online, Google’s guidance on AI content adds that Merchant Center requires AI-generated product images to carry metadata saying so.

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• Prompting for a real brand, character or celebrity. “In the style of” a living artist, or a famous logo, invites trouble. Many tools block it; some don’t.
• Images with garbled text or extra fingers. They look careless. Check every image closely before it goes up.
• Using an AI image of a real customer’s home or a real person without permission.
• Not reading the terms. Each tool sets its own rules on commercial use, and they change. Save a copy of the terms with the date you created the image.
• Assuming “AI-made” means “free of anyone’s rights.” The Office’s Part 3 report on training is still a pre-publication version. The rules here are still moving.
• Missing alt text. AI images need alt text like any other. See how to write alt text.

What if someone copies my AI image, or says mine copies theirs?

If someone copies an image that’s purely AI-made, you may have little recourse under copyright. Replace it with something you own if it matters to you.

If someone says your image infringes their work, take it down while you look into it, keep a record of the tool, prompt and date, and talk to a lawyer. This isn’t legal advice.

What does it cost, and how long does it take?

Image tools have free tiers and paid plans; check each vendor’s pricing and terms. A real photo of your work costs a phone and ten minutes. For pages that sell, that’s often the better trade.

How does E-3 handle this?

On the sites we look after, people at E-3 make image changes like any other edit, and daily backups mean an earlier version can be restored. Our advice is the same as on this page: real photos of your own work, team and place wherever customers expect them.

Related questions

• Should I use stock photos or real ones?
• What does the FTC say about AI claims and AI-written reviews?
• How do I write with AI without sounding like AI?
• How do I write a simple AI policy for my staff?
• Back to the complete guide to AI tools for small business

Sources

1. Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (U.S. Copyright Office)
2. Copyright Office releases Part 2 of Artificial Intelligence report (NewsNet, January 29, 2025)
3. Works containing material generated by artificial intelligence (U.S. Copyright Office registration guidance, March 16, 2023)
4. Using generative AI content on your website (Google Search Central)