Do you own AI-generated images, and can you use them commercially?

Who owns an AI-generated image?

Two different questions hide inside this one. The first is a contract question: what does the tool's company say about the output? The second is a law question: does copyright exist in the image at all?

Tool terms answer the first. OpenAI says that, as between you and OpenAI and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you own the Output¹. Midjourney says you own your Assets to the fullest extent possible under applicable law². Canva says you own your Output to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, except Output that modifies or incorporates its licensed library content⁷. Each one hedges with the law, and a company can pass on only what it has. If the law gives an image no copyright, the contract has nothing to hand over.

Can I copyright an AI image in the US?

Parts of it, yes. The purely machine-made part, no. In Part 2 of its AI report, published on 29 January 2025, the US Copyright Office said copyright protects the original expression of a human author, even if the work also includes AI-generated material, but not purely AI-generated material or material where human control over the expressive elements is insufficient. Sufficiency is decided case by case³⁸.

On prompts, the Office was direct: they function as instructions that convey unprotectible ideas, and at present they do not control how the AI system generates the output³. What can be protected is human work around the output: creative selection, coordination or arrangement, creative modifications, and human-authored work perceptible in it³.

In March 2026 the US Supreme Court declined to hear Thaler v. Perlmutter, which asked whether works output by AI without a direct, traditional authorial contribution from a natural person can be copyrighted⁴. Declining a case is not a ruling on the merits.

What do the tools' terms say about commercial use?

Read the plan you pay for, not the homepage. The three sets of terms we opened, plus Shopify's help page, say:

• OpenAI: you own the Output to the extent the law permits, and OpenAI assigns its rights in it. Output may not be unique. You are responsible for Content, and you may not represent Output as human-generated when it was not¹.
• Midjourney: you own your Assets to the fullest extent possible under applicable law, subject to the terms and third-party rights. A company with more than $1,000,000 a year in revenue must be on a Pro or Mega plan to own them. You also agree to indemnify Midjourney, to the extent permitted by law, against third-party claims arising from your use².
• Canva: you own your Output except where it modifies or incorporates Canva library content, which stays under its licence. Outputs may not be unique. Removing provenance tags, including C2PA, is prohibited⁷.
• Shopify: it does not claim ownership of images merchants create with its generator, and its invisible watermark does not restrict commercial use⁹.

What is the position in India?

India has no AI-specific copyright rule that we found. The Copyright Act says the author is the first owner of a work¹⁰. For a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work that is computer-generated, it defines the author as the person who causes the work to be created⁵.

Whether that clause covers AI image generators is contested. A May 2026 analysis on SpicyIP, by a research fellow at NLSIU, argues that the Act is built around a human author and cannot reasonably be read to cover fully autonomous AI output. It limits itself to that end of the spectrum and does not address AI-assisted work. Its closing line is that "the framework is being asked to do something it was not built for"⁶.

Policy is also unsettled. The December 2025 working paper from India's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, as summarised by a law firm, covers the use of copyrighted works for AI training and sets aside copyright over AI outputs for a second part¹¹. We did not find that second part on 12 October 2026.

For a brand in India: treat a purely prompted image as having uncertain protection, and put your effort into what you add and what you control.

How do I use AI images commercially and stay protected?

A short list that follows from the sources above:

• Use a plan whose terms cover your business. Midjourney's rule on companies above $1,000,000 in revenue is one example².
• Add human work: layout, typography, compositing, hand edits and a deliberate selection. The Copyright Office protects creative selection, arrangement and modification, not the prompt³.
• Keep prompts, source files and edit history, since human contribution is judged case by case³.
• Do not strip provenance tags or present AI images as human-made⁷¹.
• If an agency made the images, ask which tool, plan and terms applied, and get a written assignment of whatever rights exist. See Who owns the code, design and domain.
• Protect the brand through trademark and contract, which are separate from copyright. A trademark lawyer can say whether a logo is registrable.