Advanced · Images, sound and media · module 122 of 155
Making images with rights and provenance in mind
Make and use AI images with attention to rights, recognisable people, labels and provenance.
After this lesson
Before publication, you check the terms of use, recognisable people and brands, and you make it clear that an image was made with AI.
In view · How it connects
An AI image ready for publication
Can you use the image like this? No style of a living artist, no logos.
No realistic images of recognisable people or invented events.
State that AI was used and keep the tool, date and prompt.
Part 1 of 3 · Terms and rights
Your preference for less movement is on. Choose each part yourself.
Are you allowed to use the image?
An image you make with AI is not automatically free to use. Read the tool’s terms: may you use the images commercially, and who is responsible if an image looks too much like existing work? Whether and how copyright applies to an AI image differs by country and situation. Do not ask for an image in the style of a living artist or with a well-known character or logo; that can affect the rights of others. For each image, keep a record of the tool, the date and the prompt (lessons 13 and 24).
Recognisable people and real places
Do not make realistic images of real, recognisable people without their permission, and certainly not in situations that never happened. That can harm their privacy and reputation and mislead readers. Also watch out for images that suggest a real event, place or organisation: a generated image is an illustration, not evidence. Check details such as text, hands, symbols and brand logos that appear in the image unintentionally, and remove anything that is not right or not allowed.
Label and keep the provenance
Make it clear when an image was made with AI, especially if it is realistic or shows something that could be real. For deepfakes, the EU has an explicit obligation to disclose this (lesson 116). Some tools add provenance data or an invisible watermark. Leave them in place, but do not count on them being preserved when editing or sharing. In your image brief, record who approves the image, and check rights, labels and details before publication.
New practice example
From explanation to a usable result.
An AI image is not automatically free to use. Check terms, people, brands and labels before publication.
Fictional practice situationFictional: a youth centre wants an AI image for the announcement of a film night. The first result shows a cinema with a recognisable character from a well-known film on the screen.
View a possible solution
This is how it can be done
The recognisable character may affect other people’s rights, so I ask for a new version with an empty, lit screen. Then I check for unwanted text and logos, add “Illustration made with AI” and have the person in charge of the youth centre approve it.
Why this works
The image remains usable as an illustration, without copying other people’s work or suggesting an official partnership.
Make it slightly more difficult
Write an image brief for the same poster in which you rule out in advance what you do not want in the image.
Extra practice, at your own pace. You do not need to submit anything. This does not count towards an automatic assessment.
Your workplace · learning by doing
Make something. See what changes.
Checking the AI connection… You can already view the written example.
Present your assignment to Ende.
Read the answer, change one thing, and compare.
Previously held
New version
You remain in control
What do you want to improve in your next attempt?
On this device only. AI answers remain only in this page memory. This is self-review, not a grade.
Why this approach works
The image remains usable as an illustration, without copying other people’s work or suggesting an official partnership.
A step further
Write an image brief for the same poster in which you rule out in advance what you do not want in the image.
Try & discover · no obligation
Make your image brief visible
Change goal, format and composition. Compare the trial design with the assignment you are describing it with.
Your image brief in words
Create a vierkant prototype design for an online workshop. Place the illustration midden. Leave space for a short title and explanation. Use fictional elements. Present it as an illustration and check origin and usage rights before publication.
2 publication agreements are still open in your checklist.
This is a drawn draft design with fixed components, not an image generator. The tick boxes schedule a check and do not prove usage rights. Nothing is being published.
This trial works locally with fictitious data and does not count towards your lesson completion. It starts anew with a new lesson or reload.
A prompt to get you started
Help me write an image brief for a fictional flyer for a neighbourhood market. Describe the subject, mood, colours, format and space for text. Do not use real people, brands, logos or the style of an existing artist. Add a checklist for before publication: the tool’s terms of use, unintended text or logos in the image, recognisable people, a statement that the image was made with AI and who approves it.
Apply it
For a poster, a colleague wants an AI image “in the style of” a well-known living illustrator, with the logo of a sports brand on a shirt.
Which approach best fits this situation?
- Use the image; AI images are always free of rights.
- Use the image and credit the illustrator by name as the source.
- Choose your own style without referring to the illustrator and without a brand logo, and check the tool’s terms.
With JavaScript, you can check your approach and receive immediate feedback.
Test your insight
For a news item, a colleague wants a realistic AI image of the mayor at an opening that has not yet taken place. What is the best response?
- Fine, if the image looks professional.
- Don’t do it: such an image of a real person at an event that did not take place is misleading and requires permission. Choose an illustration or a real photo.
- Use the image and leave out the mayor’s name.
Extra practice
Use an approved tool to make a fictional image for a flyer. Go through the checklist and note what you changed before you would publish it.
Image brief: a colourful neighbourhood market with stalls full of vegetables and flowers, drawn style, landscape format, space at the top for the title. No real people, brands or logos. Check: the terms allow use on a flyer; an illegible brand logo on a stall has been removed; at the bottom it says “Illustration made with AI”. Approval: the chair of the neighbourhood committee.
