Key Takeaways
- AI content legality is complex and ambiguous: The legality of AI content is not clearly defined, with risks related to copyright infringement in the UK and the US.
- Search rankings can be impacted: Using AI-generated content without proper humanisation and optimisation may harm your SEO, as search engines like Google can penalise such content.
- AI content risks copyright infringement: Inputting copyrighted material into AI tools or generating content that closely resembles existing works can lead to legal challenges.
- Fair use exceptions are limited: In both the UK and the US, “fair use” exceptions for AI-generated content are restrictive, particularly for creative outputs like blogs and images.
- Human input is crucial: For AI-generated content to be protected under copyright, it must include originality and human input, making responsible usage essential to avoid legal issues.
The common link between Metallica and online content creators
What does the heavy metal band Metallica have in common with online creators and the legality of AI content? It’s not a trick question. And no, lead singer James Hetfield isn’t doing keyword research for his songs. The answer lies in a lawsuit Metallica filed in 2000 against the online streaming giant Napster.
Napster was accused of illegally distributing Metallica’s songs. Consequently, other artists such as Dr Dre filed lawsuits of their own. Yet, it wasn’t just Napster who were being prosecuted. End users who shared and downloaded music were also at risk. This was the beginning of the end for Napster and the wild west of illegal online streaming.
Yet, over 20 years later the same issues are emerging. AI Chatbots like ChatGPT are the new Napster and content creators are unhappy. Yet, just like in the early noughties, end users who rely on chatbots to generate content must remain vigilant. The legality of AI content is being questioned and it’s imperative to understand the implications.
Please note that this article is not intended to provide legal advice. It aims to help marketers navigate the complex world of AI content strategy creation. After all, we are marketers, not lawyers.
Using AI content risks your search rankings
The way we create SEO content has irrevocably changed. It’s no longer enough to jump onto Moz, find random keywords, and stuff them into your article like Daft Punk creating a ’90s dance hit (Remember ‘Around the World’? I still can’t get it out of my head).
The emergence of AI has made SEO much more complex. SEOs now need to consider how they can build an effective AI search strategy and understand how Entity SEO and Topical Authority work.
Moreover, within the next five years, SEO will evolve rapidly. As a result, many people are looking for shortcuts.
Since the launch of ChatGPT, interest in using AI to generate content has jumped 64% globally. This is despite Google releasing spam updates to de-index AI-generated content.
While Google doesn’t ban using AI to create content, it won’t help you rank if you do not humanise and optimise your text. While it is easy to fall into a false sense of security, it’s relatively straightforward to spot content generated by AI.
As a result, you must remain vigilant, especially if you outsource your content strategy and creation to a digital agency.
AI impacts SEO services, and many want to improve their margins while leveraging AI tools.
Yet, the risks of using AI content go beyond your search rankings. The legality of AI content is also debatable. Using AI content may mean you are infringing copyright laws and at risk of prosecution.
What is the legality of AI content?
The legal implications of using AI-generated content in both the UK and the US are not clear-cut. This is primarily because there is no single law in either country that specifically governs AI-generated content. However, two primary areas of concern arise when considering the legality of AI content: the input and the output.
For instance, consider the following situation. Alex, a fitness enthusiast, sets up a fitness apparel company called Panther Fitness. However, Alex is concerned because he doesn’t have the marketing budget of Addidas or Nike.
Therefore, Alex decides to use ChatGPT to generate thousands of blogs for Panther, drawing from influencer posts, competitor materials, and workout routines to boost SEO. He plans to use ChatGPT to turn this content into articles, combining it with the AI’s knowledge.
However, this strategy risks copyright infringement. In the UK, even storing or copying copyrighted material electronically can violate the law. This includes publicly available information. By feeding influencer posts and other content into the AI, Alex risks copying it in a way that infringes on the original creators’ rights, potentially leading to legal trouble for Panther.
However, the most significant risk is likely the output. If ChatGPT generates content that resembles existing works, Panther could face significant legal challenges. For instance, Perplexity AI, an AI search engine, has been accused of plagiarism by copying large amounts of work from Forbes.
However, this will depend on how recognisable the original work is in Panther’s marketing materials.
Are there any exceptions to the copyright legality of AI content?
There are certainly exceptions to copyright laws in both the UK and US when it comes to AI content. In the UK, there is a system known as “fair dealing.”
For instance, imagine Alex at Panther decided he wanted to write blogs reviewing influencer workout routines. He uses AI to critique three different blogs. Alex can quote and analyse the workout routines. However, he cannot use the photos from those blogs.
In the US, similar provisions exist although perhaps more limiting when it comes to the legality of AI content. A research paper by Cornell distinguished between “expressive” and “non-expressive” content.
In short, non-expressive deals with AI systems that engage in mechanical tasks. This could include online libraries and image recognition. For example, in Authors Guild vs Google, the court found when Google scanned text so users could find books more easily, they were not guilty of infringing copyright laws. It was “fair use” because Google doesn’t allow people to read books but rather search for them.
However, according to Cornell, fair use is unlikely to apply when AI-generated content is creative, such as with blogs and pictures. As a result, AI-generated content for SEO is unlikely to fall under fair use.
As a result, it’s important to remember that using AI to create content should only be used as an assistant and not a replacement for your insights and knowledge.
Can AI content be copyrighted in the UK?
Here is a sentence you won’t read often – UK legislators were ahead of their time. In 1988, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act was introduced, which included “computer-generated works which do not have a human creator.” Either someone in Westminster was a sci-fan or a futurist who saw the future of AI.
However, ambiguity remains. UK legislation dictates that the author of any computer-generated work is the person who made the “arrangements necessary.” That’s a fancy way of saying the person who facilitated the content creation.
However, what this means in practice lies in the definition of originality. Current UK case law dictates that work must be “the author’s own intellectual creation.” This means the author must include their free and creative choices. However, how and to what extent this applies to AI-generated content is unclear.
Yet, one thing does appear clear. Based on current UK legislation, for your content to be protected it must have originality and human input. It is the degree to which either of these things exists that is open to debate.
For instance, would AI-generated content from Alex at Panther Fitness be protected if he only changed a few sentences for one of his ChatGPT blogs? The copyright legality of AI content is not clear.
What is the legal position of your AI content in the US?
In the US, the legality of AI content also remains ambiguous. However, AI guidance from the US Copyright Office perhaps brings some clarity.
In short, the guidance says “copyright will only protect the human-authored aspects of the work” which does not “affect” the copyright status of the AI material. Therefore, if Alex at Panther only changes a few sentences to reflect his original thoughts, only these aspects of his work are protected.
However, if ChatGPT provides plagiarised content, it will not protect Alex from his legal obligations and those aspects will not be protected by copyright laws.
This is crucial to remember. AI tools like ChatGPT have been found to plagiarise work. Therefore, completely relying on them for SEO is a mistake from both a search and a legal perspective. For instance, in December 2023, The New York Times sued the creators of ChatGPT for recreating its articles, which were then used to compete with the media giant online.
The current stance from the US Copyright Office comes after they granted copyright for the novel Zarya of the Dawn. This novel used AI to generate images.
However, the copyright registration was cancelled because the photos were not the result of “human authorship.” Yet, the decision went on to say the “text of the work is registrable” because it was created without AI.
Can I use AI art without copyright?
Like AI content, the legality of AI art and its copyright status is open to debate. Open AI, the makers of ChatGPT, state they “do not claim any rights to images generated.” Therefore, like most AI art tools, you can use them without worrying about the legalities of AI content.
However, it’s worth remembering that AI systems learn from data. Therefore, these tools often use copyrighted images to create new work, like how AI-generated text is produced. As a result, if the AI creates the same picture, you can still find yourself facing legal issues over your AI content.
Is ChatGPT content copyright-free? The legality of AI content produced by ChatGPT
While it’s clear ChatGPT may produce copyrighted text, do they hold the copyright for any “original” work they produce? What is the legality of AI content produced by ChatGPT? According to the OpenAI, you can own the “output you create with ChatGPT.” This includes the right to sell.
However, the responsibility to ensure you do not violate anyone else’s rights falls to you. One, way to ensure you are protected is to run your AI-generated content through plagiarism and AI content detectors.
However, in a study we found these tools are only 66% accurate, meaning they cannot be relied upon. Therefore, you must follow best practice to ensure you are optimising your AI-generated content.
The legal use of AI content
AI content legality is ambiguous. While AI offers the promise of content creation utopia, the reality is a complex legal minefield.
Like in the early noughties with the music industry, SEOs can be tempted to assume legal action will only be aimed at the companies facilitating AI content creation. However, this is unlikely.
Many companies spend years building their online assets. SEO is complex and takes time and resources. That’s why, at Antlerzz, we help health brands set strong foundations by building a lasting SEO strategy.
While SEO will transform completely in the coming decade, it will never be fully automated. So, it’s critical to embrace AI tools ethically.
Using AI blindly, which infringes on someone else’s intellectual property, will likely cause you to get caught up in legal discussions. It’s not worth it, especially considering the other consequences of AI content. These range from harming your rankings and brand to issues with trust and accuracy.
Therefore, for people like Alex in our example, navigating the fine line between inspiration and infringement is crucial to avoid costly legal battles. This does not mean you shouldn’t leverage AI. You absolutely should. However, you should use it in a responsible way that includes your thoughts and ideas.
Failure to do so may see the content equivalent of Metallica knocking on your door. At that point, you will become so focused on avoiding spiralling costs coupled with plummeting search rankings “Nothing Else Matters.”
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