Q: Can I use/sell the art I make using the Wonder AI art generator app? I don’t want to risk anything but want to use them.
The app is available on iOS and I paid for the pro version. I’ve tried reading the agreements again but can’t tell. I would like to possible sell the original images or create my own works of art using these images as references.
A:
This is a generalized, public reply based on your question. It is not legal advice specific to your situation.
The Copyright Office addresses this question often. It recently came up in a February 2022 publication of the U.S. Copyright Office Review Board. If you have the time, do a web search for a PDF with the title "Second Request for Reconsideration for Refusal to Register A Recent Entrance to Paradise (Correspondence ID 1-3ZPC6C3; SR # 1-7100387071)" Sorry for the long title, but this document addresses this question nicely.
In a different official publications called the "Compendium 300" the Copyright office lets the public know "The U.S. Copyright Office will register an original work of authorship, provided that the work was created by a human being. ... Because copyright law is limited to 'original intellectual conceptions of the author,' the Office will refuse to register a claim if it determines that a human being did not create the work. [citation to 111 U.S. 53 (1884)]." This passage is quoted from the Compendium (Third) § 306.
One of the key concepts in a copyright is the author's creative expression. The Copyright Office often calls this idea the "selection, coordination or arrangement" of the creation's elements or contents. Machine-made or AI-made artwork generally lacks this kind of creative input. To summarize a different publication from a Congressional agency, "the crucial question is whether the 'work' is basically one of human authorship, with the computer [or other device] merely being an assisting instrument ..." This quote is from the same Compendium.
One recent development in copyright law is the decision that AI-generated works have no author at all, and therefore have no copyright naturally arising in any one person. This means the person creating the AI software does not have a copyright in the AI-generated work either.
An author using AI-created visual artwork will need to add or remove content to the work in a way that "selects, coordinates, or arranges" the elements of the work after the AI process has completed. Alternatively, an author likely has a valid claim to copyright in a collection or anthology of AI-made works. Also, a human-made derivative work based on that AI work is eligible or a copyright.
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