AI-Generated Art and the Ethics of Ownership
Before: Art by AI in the New Age
A breathtaking painting. A mesmerizing melody. A beautifully crafted poem.
Now consider the ensuing discovery that none of them was written by a human. They were created by AI.
AI-generated art is not an experiment anymore — it’s a reality. Algorithms such as DALL·E, MidJourney, and DeepAI are creating digital masterpieces. AI music tools write symphonies. AI writers churn out novels.
But with this artistic revolution comes a monumental question: Who owns the art made by an A.I.?
Is it real creativity if a machine makes it? Does AI deserve the rights of an artist? And more critically — who receives the credit, and the profits?
Let’s untangle this ethical and legal mess.
Things to Know About AI-Generated Creativity
AI doesn’t just copy art. It creates it.
Look at AI art platforms such as DALL·E and MidJourney. These tools examine thousands — sometimes millions — of images, learning various artistic styles. Then, they create something else based on user prompts.
Not just replicas. But original compositions.
In music, AI programs such as AIVA write film scores. Now, there is a flood of AI-generated literature on Amazon, books written with tools such as ChatGPT and Jasper AI. Even in finance, where AI creates finance-specific news articles and complex market reports and investment strategies.
But if the work is being done by a machine, who gets the credit?
The Challenge: Who Owns the Art AI Creates?
In traditional art, ownership is well defined:
🎨 The painting is owned by the painter.
🎵 The artist is the song’s master.
📖 The writer owns the book.
But with AI? It’s complicated.
Scenario 1: AI as a tool
AI. Training dataset up to Google October 2023
Human gives the input and guidance, the art is created by an AI.
Here, the human remains the creator, only wielding AI as a tool — like Photoshop or a camera.
Scenario 2: AI is the main artist
User types a prompt, AI generates a complete artwork from scratch.
The human contribution was limited creative input.
Who owns it now? The user? The AI company? No one?
This is where the ethics and legal battles now begin.
The Legal Dilemma: Copyright and AI Art
Copyright laws weren’t designed for A.I.
In most countries, for a work to be subject to copyright protection, it needs to have a human creator. AI-generated art can’t get in.
🔹 Churns out AI art isn’t copyrightable in the U.S. In 2022, the U.S. Copyright Office rejected an AI-generated work of art because creativity needs human input.
🔹 The EU does not automatically protect AI art. But AI-assisted works perhaps could be protected if a human’s contribution is substantial enough.
🔹 AI Art Copyrights Recognized by China In some instances, China has offered legal protection to AI-generated content — making it an outlier in the world.
What does this mean?
If you create a piece of art using only AI, you probably don’t own it — anyone can replicate it, use it or sell it with no legal ramifications. But if you significantly alter or direct its output, it may be eligible for copyright protection.
A legal gray area — and one that is far from settled.
What Is AI-Generated Art? Is It “Real”?
This is where it starts to get philosophical.
Some people say that A.I. can’t be creative, because it doesn’t think or feel — it merely chases data patterns.
Others argue that creativity is about output, not process — if an AI creates something unique and compelling, does it matter how it was made?
AI’s Strengths in Creativity:
✅ Moulds countless variations in minutes
✅ Merges artistic styles in fresh, unconventional combinations
✅ Automates creative work for wider access
Where AI Falls Short:
❌ Not truly inspiring — AI has no feelings or life experience
✋ Does not comprehend meaning of culture / artistic intent
❌ Rule-breaking and norms-challenging human artist-level creativity
A computer could generate a Van Gogh-style artwork. But can it feel the agony that drove Van Gogh’s paintings? No.
Art isn’t just about form. It’s about human expression.
A.I., Plagiarism and the Future of Artists: The Ethical Questions
AI absorbs knowledge and creates by assimilating existing works. But that means… it’s been trained on human-made art.
Which raises a big question: Is AI-generated art simply glorified plagiarism?
Many artists argue:
🚫 Permission to use – AI companies scrape millions of images off the internet.
🚫 Even those AI-generated works are similar to real artists’ styles.
🚫 Some AI works closely resemble living artists and threaten their livelihoods.
It is no wonder that many artists are pushing back. In early 2023, a group of artists sued an AI art platform for copyright infringement.]
And it’s not only visual artists. Writers, lyricists, even directors are worried AI will displace them.
But what about when AI gets so good that companies simply stop hiring human artists?
It’s an ethical conundrum — one that must be resolved by society, and sooner rather than later.
The Future: Is there room for both AI and people when it comes to creativity?
So what does the future hold for AI-generated art?
AI probably won’t take the work entirely away from human artists. But it’s going to change the landscape.
Possible future scenarios:
✅ AI is a creative collaborator — When artists, writers, and musicians use AI, they do so to augment their work, not to supplant themselves.
✅ Raises new questions for legal protections – Laws evolve to accommodate AI-assisted works so that artists are still credited and own their work.
✅ New forms of creative work arise — Just as photography didn’t eliminate painting, AI might bring new modes of artistic expression.
And the future may not be AI vs. humans, but AI + humans — a partnership in which technology enhances, not supplants, imagination.
The Final Word: Who Owns AI-Generated Art?
The answer is still unclear.
The law still hasn’t caught up: AI-generated works don’t have a clear owner.
From an ethical standpoint, the use of AI to create content raises questions about originality and artistic value.
Artistically, AI can be quite powerful — but lacks the human soul that lends its essence to art.
So, who owns creativity created by artificial intelligence?
Maybe the answer is actually… we all do.
Because, after all, AI is just a tool. It’s the humans that drive it, that give it purpose, that give it meaning, that give it — most importantly — soul.