Selling AI-Generated Images

Can You Sell AI-Generated Art?

AI-generated art is gaining popularity in the art world as Generative AI technology is getting better. However, there are concerns about the legal aspects surrounding AI and copyright. Can you sell AI-generated art without facing legal issues?

You can commercially sell AI-generated art on various platforms such as stock sites, print-on-demand sites, Etsy, and other marketplaces. But It’s important to ensure that the AI tool you are using grants you the necessary rights to sell your content commercially.

Notably, Adobe Stock has become the first stock photography website to accept AI-generated art. This opens up opportunities for AI art creators to sell their AI-generated content on Adobe Stock, provided they have complete commercial rights to the content.

In this post, I will further explore the topic of selling AI-generated art and discuss how to protect yourself legally.



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What is AI Art?

AI art refers to art created using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Various methods, such as utilizing AI-Image-Generators like Midjourney or DALL-E, enable the creation of diverse art styles ranging from traditional paintings to photography.

Some view AI art as the future of artistic expression, praising its ability to produce completely unique works and simplify the artistic process. However, critics argue that AI-generated art may lack legitimacy as the AI learns from copyrighted material on the internet.

Nonetheless, AI art is a rapidly growing field with millions of new works emerging daily. Whether you embrace or question it, one cannot ignore the presence and impact of AI art.

How is AI Art Created?

Most AI art generators use a text-to-image model. A text-to-image model is a deep learning model that is used to generate image representations from textual descriptions.

The AI is trained on a large dataset of images from the internet along with their corresponding text descriptions. By doing this, the objective is to learn how to map text descriptions to images.

Once the model is trained, it can be used to generate images from new text descriptions or commands.

The text-to-image model is versatile and can be used to create all sorts of images – portraits, imaginary creatures, cityscapes set in the future; you name it.

The AI art generator creates a one-of-a-kind image based on the command given to it.

However, if some other user uses the same command, the AI generator may create a similar image, but never an identical replica.

An example of forest landscape painting made with Midjourney AI art generator

Can You Sell AI-Generated Art?

The short answer is yes, you can sell AI-generated art.

In general, most AI art generators transfer the ownership of resultant images to you, allowing you to use them for commercial purposes.

In fact, a number of stock photography sites have already started to accept and sell AI art from their contributors. Recently though, a growing group of stock photo agencies is stopping accepting AI-generated images.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of selling AI-generated art.

  • First and foremost, check that the AI art generator you want to use provides ownership of the images to you so that you can utilize them for commercial purposes.
  • Secondly, beware of creating images of famous people or protected trademarks, as some AI art generators can create lifelike images of public figures rapidly. If you sell those images without permission, you could get into big legal trouble.
  • Third, to avoid others using your images, make sure that your AI art generator has the option to create images privately. Some AI-art generators, like Midjourney, will only allow work to be done privately if the customer pays extra.
  • Finally, you need to be aware of the potential risks involved in selling AI art. As AI art is a relatively new field, there are no established precedents or legal guidelines. So there may be some surprises along the way.

Because AI-generated images are truly unique, there shouldn’t be any copyright issues involved.

The real question here is how the legislation surrounding AI-generated images will develop over time.

The copyright laws are currently not recognizing AI-generated art directly, but I believe (and hope) this will change in the future to reflect our modern world.

Additionally, there is no law forbidding the sale of content to which you don’t own the copyright. Public domain images can be sold freely too!

As long as the AI Art Generator’s license terms give you ownership or rights to sell and use the images commercially, you are protected.

So, if you’re thinking of selling a piece of AI art, make sure you do your research and understand what you can and can’t do with the art.

Other than that, there’s no reason why you can’t sell a piece of AI-generated art!

Where You Can Sell Your AI Art?

Now that you know that you can sell AI-generated art, you might be wondering where you can actually sell it.

Here are a few places where you can sell AI-art:

  • Stock photography site Adobe Stock recently started accepting AI-generated images in its library as long as the content complies with Adobe Stock’s guidelines. However, some other stock photography sites like IStock and Shutterstock do not approve of AI images.
  • Etsy is another great option – This is a good option if you want to reach a large audience, as Etsy is one of the most popular online marketplaces.
  • Finally, print-on-demand sites like Society6 and Redbubble always look for new designs to add to their catalogs.

So if you’re looking for somewhere to sell your AI art online, these three options should be a perfect fit.

I’ve been selling ai-generated images on a few different stock photo sites, and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. My images have been downloaded hundreds of times.

If you check Adobe Stock’s recent top sellers list, you’ll find AI-generated images in the portfolios of many contributors each week. So, AI images are currently a trending image style in Adobe Stock when writing this post.

For now, most stock photo sites are accepting ai-generated art. However, this may change in the future.

Read this post to find out which sites currently accept AI-images: Where You Can Sell AI-Generated Stock Images?

Conclusion

So there you have it! You can sell AI-generated art because, by their nature, these art generators create unique artwork that doesn’t violate the copyright of others.

However, you need to be aware of a few things before you get started.

  • Most importantly, ensure that your AI Art Generator gives you legal commercial rights to all images you create with it.
  • Secondly, be careful of creating and selling images of famous people or protected trademarks.
  • And finally, understand that selling AI art is a relatively new field, so there may be some surprises along the way. So always proceed with caution and read carefully all user terms!

Other than that, there’s no reason why you can’t sell a piece of AI-generated art!

Thanks for reading!