How Businesses Can Safely Use AI-Generated Content Without Legal Risks

Gone are those days when you need to stack up your content team to the brink so you can meet your marketing needs. Today, rapid advancement in GenAI makes it possible to roll out dozens of content with minimal resources and in as little as a day.

However, this also increases the risk of content copyright violations, trademark infringements, defamation claims, and costly legal injunctions. That’s because AI-generated outputs are more likely to include protected materials without proper attribution or authorization.

In this article, we’ll share some steps to help you avoid these issues and safely use AI-generated content to achieve your marketing goals.

Copyright implications of AI-generated visuals

“AI models like ChatGPT and DALL-E generate content by processing data from various sources, including publicly available information. While this enables seamless and efficient content creation, it also carries the risk of producing visuals or text that unintentionally resemble copyrighted material from other brands,” Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches, says.

For instance, if you prompt DALL-e to generate a futuristic sports shoe with a swoosh-like logo, the result might resemble Nike’s branding. Nike has aggressively protected its trademarks, suing brands like BAPE in 2024 for using similar designs. So, using the logo for marketing or product branding purposes might land you in court.

Besides lawsuits, copyright strikes can do more damages like:

• Suspension of your marketing platforms after repeated content strikes. For example, YouTube enforces a three-strike rule: if a brand repeatedly uploads AI-generated videos containing copyrighted elements, the entire channel can be terminated.
• Domain termination due to DMCA complaints. This can affect your internet presence and disrupt your services entirely. Hosting companies such as Bluehost and GoDaddy might even revoke your server allocation.
• Loss of business credibility stemming from distrust from your marketing partners and audiences. 

Legal implications sometimes include monetary settlements, which might cost your business a chunk.

How to ensure compliance when using AI for marketing and branding

97% of designers say they use AI to streamline their design processes, whereas 58% use it to generate images and other creative assets for their designs. This growing adoption, as awesome as it is, comes with risks such as lawsuits or copyright strikes.

And that’s why you need to keep your team on the good side of compliance with the following steps.

Update your marketing team on fair use and AI laws

Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission under specific conditions, such as teaching or reporting news. Anything beyond that, such as for marketing or branding, infringes on the original ownership of the materials constituting your AI output.

While there are no definitive copyright laws binding AI use as of now, many argue that AI-generated content could fall under Section 120 of the Copyright Act. This Act allows your business to use AI-generated visuals containing copyrighted elements so long as they meet the following:

• If the material is transformative instead of a near-copy of the original work.
• If only a small portion was copied rather than the entire thing.
• If the generated material does not affect the marketability of the original work.

Ensure your marketing team understands the fair use and copyright laws surrounding their output. If the generated content contains even a slight reference to an original work and impacts the marketability of that work, you know you have to discard it.

Set up a compliance team

Let's say your marketing team used AI to generate a logo inspired by ancient calligraphy—such as the letterforms seen in Attic Greek. There are chances the design might borrow from copyrighted adaptations of historical Attic styles instead of the original.

These subtle differences might be overlooked by your marketing team, potentially leading to legal issues. And that’s why you need to set up a compliance group to keep every output in check before it hits the public space. Their job is to:

• Check if your AI-generated visuals, posed for marketing, contain copyrighted works or trademarks.
• Reach out to authors of the original work for licensing or permission in cases where you need their reference in the final output.
• Monitor Platform Policies on AI Content Usage. For instance, YouTube updated its AI policy to require creators to indicate their usage of AI-generated materials and add attributions for original owners.
• Request immediate takedown of AI-generated marketing materials that might draw legal risks.

This serves as a two-factor authentication mechanism to ensure strict compliance.

Be pragmatic with your choice of AI tool

Most AI companies use internet-available data to train their models. One example is Stability,, which allegedly used over 12 million Getty images to train its image-generating AI tool, Stable Diffusion. 

Unsurprisingly, this resulted in an ongoing lawsuit by Getty Images against Stable Diffusion. Brands using AI-generated stock images, especially those containing Getty watermarks, also faced takedown requests.

That’s why it’s crucial to choose an AI-powered image-generating tool like Deep Image, which is trained on legally licensed and structured data. 

Besides choosing the right tool, it’s important you provide prompts that guardrail your AI’s output. For instance, instead of asking AI to generate a "customized t-shirt design like Gucci’s", rephrase it to "a luxury t-shirt with sleek geometric patterns and breathable fabric elements." This reduces the risk of producing content that closely resembles copyrighted designs.

3 methods to protect your business from potential legal implications

Legal issues stemming from the use of copyrighted AI-generated visual content can stifle business growth and affect brand reputation. 

Here’s how to protect your business from them:

Promptly address copyright claims

Often, a company whose work or designs appear in your AI-generated content might first contact you with a takedown request rather than immediately resort to legal action.

In such situations, acknowledge their concerns and offer an apology. If the material is essential to your marketing campaign, consider requesting a license to continue using it. Otherwise, unless you have strong legal grounds to prove non-infringement, it’s best to remove the content to avoid further disputes.

Some might report your account—social media channels and websites—and request that the material be removed. To prevent a recurrence, it’s important to do that as soon as possible and integrate some of the compliance methods we’ve discussed.

In more severe cases, such as receiving a lawsuit, resolving the matter out of court may be the most cost-effective option. De-escalating the situation through negotiation can help protect your brand’s reputation and avoid prolonged legal battles.

Maintain transparency about AI usage in marketing materials

Several marketing channels, including YouTube, require clear disclosure when AI-generated assets are used in video content. The likes of TikTok and Instagram have picked up the same baton.

Stanislav Khilobochenko, VP of Customer Services at MacKeeper, suggests “including a similar disclosure on your website’s About page to inform users that certain content, such as images, text, or videos, was generated or enhanced using AI. This transparency helps build trust with your audience while also serving as a precaution against potential legal issues related to AI-generated materials."

Some AI tools also provide metadata for each output. You can include these as captions, references, or final comments to prevent copyright strikes and takedown requests.

Stay updated on evolving AI regulations and industry standards

Most rules shaping the use of AI-generated content and copyright guidelines are still in their nascent state. AI experts constantly argue about what should fall under the Copyright Act while the European Union’s Act is trying to keep pace with AI advancements. 

So, the acceptable norm today might not necessarily be the acceptable norm tomorrow. That's why you need to stay up-to-date with the latest regulations and industry standards. Regularly review your compliance standards, stay current on regional and industrial laws governing AI use, and optimize your marketing campaigns accordingly.

Wrapping Up

GenAI has become an indispensable asset in marketing, but its use comes with legal risks, such as copyright strikes, lawsuits, and trademark claims. To stay on the green lane, update your marketing team on fair use and existing AI laws. Set up a compliance team to oversee your marketing team's final output.

Promptly address copyright strikes and concerns when they arise in order to prevent further escalations. You should also maintain transparency on your AI usage for marketing purposes and stay updated on evolving AI regulations.

Lastly, only use AI tools that provide clear licensing agreements and copyright-safe outputs. An example is Deep-image AI, which offers legally compliant AI-generated content, reducing the risk of infringement.