AI in creative work: what legal considerations should be kept in mind?

Lila Kallio
Jan 15
7 min read

AI tools are developing at a remarkable pace. Not long ago, an AI-generated image was easy to recognise, but today, the best AI-generated images are so convincing that they can be indistinguishable from genuine photographs. AI can also be used to produce text, audio and video, offering creative industry professionals significant opportunities to accelerate content production and develop new forms of expression.

At the same time, the use of AI raises numerous legal questions. In this blog post, I discuss the legal considerations that companies operating in the creative industries should take into account before introducing AI tools and using them as part of their creative work.

Who owns AI-assisted content, and how can it be protected?

A key question is whether the creator obtains an exclusive right to use and license material produced with the assistance of AI, or whether the result remains freely available for anyone to use. There is no straightforward answer, as it depends on the extent of the human creator’s own creative contribution to the work.

Copyright belongs to the person who creates a work, provided that the work is sufficiently independent and original. Copyright protection always requires a creative contribution by a human, and the assessment is made on a case-by-case basis. Copyright never protects an idea as such, but only the specific form in which the idea is expressed.

When a creative professional uses AI as a tool in their work, the existence of copyright is assessed according to these same principles. Copyright does not arise where a person gives the AI only a general instruction and the AI produces the final content entirely without any creative contribution from the user.

The situation is different if AI is used as part of a broader creative process. If the creator uses AI, for example, to support brainstorming, then creates the content themselves and uses AI only for final refinements, the work is likely to contain enough of the creator’s own creative contribution to qualify for copyright protection.

The use of AI should also be documented in case of potential disputes. Retaining the creator’s own drafts and the prompts used can make it easier to demonstrate which parts of the final result are based on human creative work.

If content is created using generative AI and the result does not qualify for copyright protection, protection may in some cases also be sought through trademarks. For example, Moomin Characters has protected Moomin characters as trademarks. However, it is important to note that a trademark only provides protection in specified classes of goods and services and within a particular geographical area. It does not protect the creative content as such. Its scope and purpose therefore differ from those of copyright protection.

If a creative project involving extensive use of generative AI is being planned, trademark protection may nevertheless be worth considering alongside copyright as a complementary form of protection.

Can AI-generated material be used freely?

Material created with AI is not automatically free from third-party rights. The key questions are which AI service was used to produce the material and how liability has been allocated in the service’s terms of use.

Some AI services use only licensed training data or other material that is not protected by copyright and contractually assume responsibility for ensuring that the materials generated by the AI do not infringe third-party copyrights. In such cases, the service provider bears responsibility for the output to the extent agreed in the terms of use, and the user’s legal risk is substantially lower.

Many widely used services, however, have been trained on extensive datasets collected from the internet, which may also contain copyright-protected material. In most services, the service provider does not contractually assume responsibility for ensuring that the generated content does not infringe third-party rights. Instead, responsibility for using the content remains with the user. Material produced using such services therefore requires careful review before publication.

In summary, there is no universally applicable answer as to whether AI-generated materials may be used freely. The allocation of responsibility depends primarily on the service used and its terms of use, which should be reviewed before AI is introduced as part of content production.

Can confidential information be entered into an AI service?

As a general rule, confidential information should not be entered into an AI service unless the service is specifically intended for business use and its terms and information security have been carefully assessed.

For business purposes, companies should use business or enterprise versions of generative AI services unless they operate a local AI solution on their own servers. In consumer services, such as the free and Plus versions of ChatGPT, materials and prompts entered into the service may, in accordance with the terms of use, be used to train the AI model. In addition, the service provider may reserve broad rights to use and even share material uploaded by users for purposes other than AI model training.

This means that if a company’s employees use consumer licences in their work, they may compromise the confidentiality of information by entering confidential material into the service.

The practical risk may arise, for example, where a screenwriter or copywriter uses a free consumer AI service to refine a text and enters an unpublished script or campaign concept into the service. Under consumer licences, the content may be used to develop AI models, meaning that the material is no longer under the company’s exclusive control. Even if the content does not appear elsewhere in an identical form, there is a risk that recognisable features of the material may be used as part of outputs generated for other users.

It is also important to note that other risks do not disappear even if the use of content for training purposes can be prohibited separately in the service settings or terms of use. Under consumer licences, service providers often do not provide binding guarantees regarding the security of the service. Information entered into the service may therefore be exposed to data breaches or other information security incidents. Protecting confidential information requires selecting a licence suitable for business use and assessing the service’s terms and information security before introducing the AI service.

Can personal data be entered into an AI service?

If personal data, such as a person’s image, voice or name, is entered into an AI service, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, applies.

The company is responsible for ensuring that the licensing terms of the AI service have been carefully assessed. As part of its compliance with the GDPR, the company must ensure, among other things, that material uploaded to the service is not used to train the AI, that it is possible to enter into the data processing agreement required by the GDPR with the service provider, and that the AI service provides appropriate security for the protection of personal data. In practice, the use of an AI service will generally also require a data protection impact assessment.

The use of AI services under free consumer licences will generally not comply with the GDPR, as service providers often also use uploaded material for their own purposes.

Is it permissible to use AI to generate images or voices of real people?

Particular attention is also required where AI is used to produce images of real people or to create AI-generated copies of a real person’s voice. A person’s image, voice and other identifying features constitute personal data. AI-generated material may also be considered personal data if a specific individual can be identified from it. In such cases, all GDPR requirements apply, including the requirement to inform the individual about the processing of their personal data and the requirement to have a lawful basis for the processing.

In content production, it is also important to recognise that using a person’s image or voice for commercial purposes requires that person’s consent. In 2025, the Helsinki Court of Appeal ordered an underwear company to pay Jasper Pääkkönen EUR 300,000 in compensation for the unauthorised use of his name, image and voice in an extensive advertising campaign. The judgment is not yet final, and the Supreme Court has granted leave to appeal. The obligation to obtain consent also applies where the person’s image or voice has been generated using AI.

When must AI-generated content be labelled as a deepfake?

The EU’s new AI Act introduces transparency requirements concerning deepfakes. The Act will become applicable gradually, and the provisions concerning deepfakes will apply from 2 August 2026.

Deepfakes are AI-generated or AI-manipulated image, audio or video content that resembles existing people, objects, places, entities or events and may falsely appear to the recipient to be authentic or truthful. The transparency obligation is therefore not limited to deepfakes depicting people.

Under the AI Act, deepfakes must be clearly labelled as having been artificially generated or manipulated. However, the Act includes an exception for creative works. Where the content forms part of an evidently artistic, creative, satirical, fictional or similar work or programme, the disclosure may be made in a manner that does not interfere with the display or enjoyment of the work.

For example, a documentary-style television production may use highly realistic AI-generated images or videos to illustrate historical events. If the context does not otherwise indicate that the material is artificial, viewers may believe it to be genuine archival footage. In such a case, the transparency obligation under the AI Act must generally be considered. However, the exception for creative works allows the use of AI to be disclosed in a manner appropriate to the nature of the work, for example in the programme’s end credits, provided that the audience is not left with a false impression of the authenticity of the content.

A breach of the transparency obligation concerning deepfakes may result in an administrative fine under the AI Act.

Checklist for creative industry professionals

Rights: ensure that your own creative contribution is sufficient if you want the final result to qualify for copyright protection.

Documentation: document the use of AI and your own creative contribution.
Terms of use: review the service terms and determine what rights you receive to the generated content and who is responsible for potential infringements.
Business-level licences: only use business-level licences for professional purposes and enter into a data processing agreement where necessary.
GDPR and consent: using a person’s image or voice requires compliance with data protection rules and, for commercial use, the person’s consent.
Deepfakes: if content has been artificially generated or manipulated, ensure that the disclosure requirements of the AI Act are met.

Would you like to discuss the legal questions surrounding AI? We help companies assess the legal risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI in the creative industries and in other AI-enabled business operations.