So you’ve turned to ChatGPT for help generating ideas, or maybe you’ve used it to create visual images from text prompts, something that’s now possible since OpenAI integrated Dall-E into its paid ChatGPT Plus. Now what? Who owns the output from ChatGPT? How can you trust ChatGPT’s output isn’t infringing on other copyright owners? Can you even copyright what you’ve generated?
The answers are complex, and the laws as written and applied today lag behind the technologies. In part, the question comes back to the definition of art and original work versus derivative work, important distinctions considering writers and artists are creating all sorts of “original” work with the help of ChatGPT and selling it to consumers. Beyond that, is it original work, given AI learns from existing content, and does so without attribution? Further, when you’re using generative AI in an image editor or on a device like the Google Pixel 8 Pro, what percentage of that photograph is your real, original work?
OpenAI isn’t transparent about how the ChatGPT model trains on existing content. The company acknowledged the copyright elephant in the room at a November developer day, when OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman announced OpenAI will cover the costs of copyright litigation for its Enterprise and developer customers. This is a good start that matches promises by Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Amazon, Getty Images, and Shutterstock, but it also leaves free and ChatGPT Plus users on their own to navigate those waters — which are becoming murkier every day.
