← Concept IndexDEFINITION WHY IT MATTERS COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH SOURCES
Copyright, permission, and creative work
Also called: training data rights, who owns the output
The tangle of rights around generative AI: what the model was trained on, whether an output infringes existing work, and who — if anyone — owns what the model makes.
Using generated text or images commercially without understanding permission can expose you legally and ethically, and can take credit or income from the people whose work trained the model.
A settled question. The law is still moving and varies by country; 'the AI made it, so it's free to use' is not a safe assumption.
- Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial IntelligenceUNESCO · 2021-11-23
First-pass citations, limited to primary sources; a reviewer will broaden and verify these before this entry leaves draft.