Terms & conditions may Appl-AI

A quick guide to IP rights for those using generative artificial intelligence tools

If we had to summarise the latest trend in the tech world (and not only) in one concept, it would probably be ‘artificial intelligence’, or rather, ‘generative artificial intelligence‘.

Specifically, generative AI is a broad definition that is used to describe any type of artificial intelligence that uses unsupervised learning algorithms to create new digital images, video, audio, text or code. Examples of this are tools such as Dall-E or ChatGPT, which are now commonly used and which can generate images, text, code strings or videos (output) from verbal instructions (input).

As a demonstration of the potential mass use of these tools, we have seen how in recent months social network feeds have been filled with a multitude of illustrations created with Midjourney or Stable Siffusion, and more recently with screenshots captured from conversations with ChatGPT.

While many question the ethical and moral issues surrounding the use of such tools, few attach as much importance to the intellectual property rights and licenses that these tools grant on the content they generate. In what follows, we have attempted to briefly analyse the licenses of some of these tools in order to understand their permitted uses.

Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion is a deep machine learning model published in 2022, mainly used to generate detailed images from text descriptions.

In this case, Art. 6 of the License merely states that “Licensor does not claim any rights to the Output generated by the user using the Model. The user is responsible for the output generated and its subsequent use.” The user is therefore granted the availability of the generated content. There are, however, some exceptions. In fact, in the next sentence, the license states that “no use of the output may contravene the provisions of the License (Annex A)” referring to a list of uses of the output that are unlawful because they are potentially harmful to third parties.

OpenAI – Dall-e 2; ChatGPT-3

These two models developed by the start-up OpenAI probably need no introduction. ChatGPT is a conversational model capable of holding complex conversations, providing information and writing texts using natural language; Dall-e is an artificial intelligence tool capable of generating images from text descriptions.

Content created using these two popular tools is subject to the same license, issued by OpenAI.

On the basis of the license, ‘the User is the owner of all the Input and, subject to the User’s compliance with these Terms, OpenAI assigns to the User all of its rights, title and interest in the Output’. Again, therefore, we find some exceptions to the exclusivity of this license, in fact OpenAI reserves, in a very general way, the right to “use the Content as necessary to provide and maintain the Services, comply with applicable law and enforce our policies. You are responsible for the Content, including ensuring that it does not violate any applicable law or these Terms.”

Midjourney

Another, popular, artificial intelligence tool capable of generating images from text descriptions. It is currently available in beta version on Discord.

According to the license “the User is the owner of all Resources created with the Services”. However, there is an exception of absolute importance that must necessarily be taken into account.

Specifically, the terms of services provide that, in cases where the user is not a paid user, he or she is granted a Creative Commons Non-Commercial 4.0 Attribution International License on End-Ups.  Therefore, content may only be used if it meets the following requirements: 1) the authorship of the work is mentioned, a link to the license is provided and it is indicated whether changes have been made; 2) the use cannot be commercial.

To conclude this brief and certainly not exhaustive overview of the licensing of AI-generated content, a warning from Chatgpt-3 on the importance of reading the terms and conditions of such tools.

“It is important to read the terms and conditions of generative AI tools because they outline the rights and responsibilities of both the user and the provider. This includes information on data usage, intellectual property, and limitations of liability. Failing to understand and comply with the terms and conditions can result in legal or ethical issues. Additionally, understanding the terms and conditions can help the user make informed decisions about the appropriate use of the tool.” (cit. ChatGPT-3)