Licensing AI-generated artwork: what to put in writing

What copyright offices say about images made with AI tools, what an honest licence should state, likenesses and tool terms, and a book cover example.

The short answer

You can license images made with AI tools, but you cannot promise the buyer that copyright protects them. Whether it does depends on the law where they are used and on how much human creative work went into them, and AI tools can produce images that resemble existing work.

So an honest licence does three things: it names the tools and your own edits, it grants the buyer the uses they need whether or not a right exists, and it sets out what happens if someone objects. It also leaves room for labelling rules that are still developing.

What the law says so far

In its January 2025 report on copyrightability, the US Copyright Office concluded that, with the technology generally available today, prompts alone do not give a user enough control to be the author of the output. Copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material. Human authors are protected for their own expression that is perceptible in an output, for a creative selection, coordination or arrangement of material, and for creative modifications of the output.

Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Copyright Commission published a generative AI copyright guide in December 2023 that takes a similar line for registration: output made by AI without human creative involvement cannot be registered, while the human creative part can. Other countries are still deciding. Treat all of this as the position on the date read, not a settled rule.

What a licence should put in writing

QuoteBill’s AI artwork licence sample covers these points:

  • The works by title or file name, the AI tools and versions used, a summary of the prompts or inputs, and what you changed by hand.
  • That you made the works with those tools and may license them under the tools’ terms, without promising copyright or uniqueness.
  • The licence itself: exclusive or not, territory, term, media and uses, sublicensing and changes allowed.
  • A promise not to object to the licensed uses even where no right protects a work, so the buyer is covered either way.
  • Uses not allowed unless agreed: a trade mark or logo, presenting a work as a photograph of a real event, reselling the files, training another AI model.
  • Who labels the works as AI-generated, credit wording, and what happens to the fee if a work has to be taken down.

Likenesses, brands and the tools’ own terms

Do not put a recognisable real person, a protected character or another company’s logo into a licensed image without permission. The sample makes the creator responsible for not including such material knowingly, and the buyer responsible for any permission it asks the creator to work with.

Every AI tool has its own terms on commercial use, credit and competing services, and those terms keep applying after you sell the image. Read them for the plan you used when you made the work, keep a copy, and tell the buyer which ones matter.

Worked example: book cover artwork

An illustrator makes a book cover with an image generator, then repaints the face, adds hand-lettered type and composites two outputs. The publisher wants exclusive print and e-book use worldwide for five years. The fee is illustrative.

The licence names the tool, summarises the prompts and lists the hand-made changes: the repainting, the lettering and the composition are the illustrator’s own creative work, and the publisher gets a promise of non-objection for the rest. If a claim arises, the publisher stops using the image within 5 business days and the illustrator supplies a replacement, as chosen in the sample.

  • Base licence, exclusive, print and e-book, 5 years: 900.
  • Extra use on posters and social media ads: 250.
  • Total licence fee: 900 + 250 = 1,150.
  • Credit agreed: “Cover art: name, made with AI tools and by hand”.

Licensing and billing it with QuoteBill

Read the AI artwork licence sample in full on its public page; for photographs or stock images the image licence sample fits better, and a copyright assignment transfers rights outright where they exist. Fill in the blanks after signing in and send the licence through E-Contracts. It is a simple electronic signature with an audit trail, not an advanced or qualified electronic signature, and QuoteBill does not verify who signs; whether that is enough depends on the contract and the country. The sample texts are not legal advice.

Bill the fee with the artist or illustration invoice templates, naming the licence and the works on the invoice line. The sample starts the licence once the fee is paid in full.

Check before you license

For creators and buyers alike:

  • The tools, the prompts summary and the hand-made changes are recorded.
  • The licence does not promise copyright, uniqueness or freedom from claims it cannot know about.
  • The buyer is covered by a non-objection promise where no right exists.
  • No real person, character or brand appears without permission.
  • The tools’ terms for the plan used allow the commercial use being licensed.
  • Labelling, credit and takedown steps are agreed.

Questions people ask

Do I own the copyright in an image I generated? It depends on the country and on your own creative contribution. The US Copyright Office says prompts alone are not enough; your own edits, selection and arrangement can be protected.

Can I sell AI-generated images commercially? Often yes, within the terms of the tool you used and without infringing others’ rights. A licence that is honest about the limits protects both you and the buyer.

Should I tell the client the image was made with AI? Yes. The sample names the tools, and some platforms and laws require AI-generated content to be labelled. Hiding it invites a dispute later.

What if the image looks like someone else’s work? Stop using it once a claim is raised and replace it. The sample sets a takedown period and lets the parties choose between a replacement and a refund.

Sources

Browse the 119 sample contracts

250 Free Invoice, Quote & Receipt Templates

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