AI-Generated Logos, Images, and Content: Who Owns the Copyright?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in creative work. With just a few prompts, businesses can quickly create logos, images, videos, articles, and other types of content. However, using AI does not automatically make the user the author or copyright owner of the resulting work. The key issue is the level of human involvement and actual creative contribution in the process of creating the work.

1. Can AI Be an Author?

Under Article 12a of the Law on Intellectual Property, an author is a person who directly creates a work. Article 14 also provides that, in order to be protected, a work must be directly created by the author through their own intellectual effort and must not be copied from another person’s work.

Therefore, under current Vietnamese law, authorship is based on human creative activity. AI itself is not recognized as an author.

When a work is created using AI, it is necessary to consider how much the human user has contributed to the creative process and whether the work meets the requirements for copyright protection.

2. When Can a Work Created Using AI Be Copyright-Protected?

A work created using AI may qualify for copyright protection when a person makes a meaningful creative contribution. This may include developing the idea, setting the requirements, selecting an option, editing, arranging or combining elements, and making important creative decisions in the final work.

In contrast, if a work is generated almost entirely automatically by AI and the human user makes no significant creative contribution, the work may not meet the requirements for copyright protection.

Therefore, simply using a long or detailed prompt does not automatically create copyright. What matters is the actual creative contribution made by the human user during the creation process.

3. Is the Right to Use an AI-Generated Work the Same as Copyright?

This is an important issue for businesses to consider.

An AI tool may allow users to use the generated content for commercial purposes under the provider’s terms of use. However, the right to use the content under such an agreement does not automatically mean that the business owns exclusive copyright in that content.

Before using AI-generated content for business purposes, businesses should carefully review the provider’s terms of use, especially provisions concerning commercial use, rights to the generated content, usage restrictions, liability in the event of a dispute, and data processing.

4. What Should Businesses Do to Reduce Legal Risks?

To protect their interests and reduce the risk of disputes, businesses should:

– Ensure meaningful human involvement: Businesses should avoid using AI-generated content without further human creative input, particularly for logos, brand identity materials, and other valuable long-term assets. People should be directly involved in selecting, editing, and finalizing the work.

– Keep records of the creative process: Businesses should retain prompts, drafts, different versions of designs, original files, records of edits, and information about the people involved. These records may help prove the human contribution to the creative process when necessary.

– Review the terms of the AI tool: Businesses should clearly understand the rights to use the generated content, the scope of commercial use, and the responsibilities of the parties.