Who owns the rights to content created by artificial intelligence?

30.12.2025

• 1. Who may be regarded as the rights holder?
• 2. What should an AI product developer do?
• 3. Key risks
• Contact a lawyer for further information

The question of who owns the rights to content created by artificial intelligence (hereinafter “AI”) remains contentious. The legislation of most countries does not yet recognise AI as an author, so the rights in the output of a neural network depend on the contractual arrangements between the participants in the process. Most commonly, the author is considered to be the person who demonstrated creative initiative (for example, the user who provided the prompt). However, in the absence of clear rules, a key role is played by terms of use, which govern rights in the content and the conditions of its use.

In this article, we will consider who may be regarded as the rights holder, what steps an AI product developer should take, and what risks must be taken into account.

1. Who may be regarded as the rights holder?

• The user. In most jurisdictions, rights to generated content are vested in the user if they have made a creative contribution (for example, by formulating the prompt).
• The platform developer. Usually does not claim rights, but may restrict the use of content through the terms of use.
• The commissioning company. If the content is created under a contract, the rights may pass to the commissioning party.

2. What should an AI product developer do?

1. Set out in the terms of use who owns the rights to the output created by the AI, or which scope of rights is transferred, and whether the developer may in the future use the content, for example, to train the model, etc.
2. Take jurisdiction into account: rights may be regulated differently depending on the user’s country. Copyright and data protection laws vary by country. Include a clause stating that the terms may be amended in response to changes in legislation, and specify the governing law and the procedure for dispute resolution.
3. If you provide an API or a white-label solution, ensure the contract provides for:

• Transfer of rights in the output created by the AI to the client. Define when the rights transfer and their scope.
• Limitation of liability for infringement of third-party copyright. Add a disclaimer of warranties as to the uniqueness of the content and specify that the client is responsible for checking rights before commercial use.

3. Key risks

• Infringement of third-party rights. Generative models may use materials protected by copyright.
• Ownership disputes. In the absence of clear terms in the terms of use.
• Regulatory changes. In a number of countries, laws on co-authorship with AI are being discussed.

Thus, the issue of rights to content created by artificial intelligence remains open: no jurisdiction has yet recognised AI as an author, and legislative initiatives are still at the discussion stage.

This means that today contractual documents and terms of use play a key role. Therefore, it is important for companies to define in advance the legal framework for the use of AI in order to minimise legal risks and ensure clear rules for all parties.

Authors: Artem Handriko, Daria Gordey.