LESSON 5 OF 5
Using the output safely
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON
Know what to check before an image goes anywhere public.
The terms differ by tool, and they change
- The terms differ by tool
- Checking the terms of the tool
- Before the work depends on it
What you may do with a generated image — use it commercially, claim it as yours, use it in a logo — is governed by the terms of the specific tool you used, and those terms differ between tools and are revised.
So the durable habit is not memorising a rule. It is checking the terms of the tool you are actually using, before the work depends on the answer rather than after.
Real people and other people’s brands
- Check this: A real, identifiable person
- Check this: Characters and logos someone else owns
- Safe: A picture that is not somebody else’s property
Two things are worth treating as firm regardless of the tool. Do not generate a real, identifiable person and use it as though they endorsed or did something — that is a problem about them, not about copyright, and no tool’s terms make it fine.
And be careful with characters, logos and product designs someone else owns. A picture that is recognisably somebody else’s property is a risk you are taking on their behalf, whatever the tool allowed you to make.
Say so when it matters
Some clients, publications and platforms require you to say an image was generated. The requirement varies and it is not always obvious, so ask before delivery rather than after.
Beyond any requirement, there is a plain practical reason: being found out later costs more than saying so at the time, and the cost is trust rather than money.
WORKED EXAMPLE
ASSUMED
Generated a hero image, put it on the client’s homepage, said nothing.
CHECKED
Checked the terms of the tool for commercial use before starting. Nothing in the image is a real person or anyone else’s character. Told the client it was generated and asked whether they need it disclosed anywhere. Kept the prompt and the tool name with the file.
Each step is a few minutes now and expensive later. Keeping the prompt and the tool name matters most: in six months, when someone asks where an image came from, that note is the only thing that can answer.
YOUR TURN
Run the check on something you have already published.
RUN THIS
I published a generated image here: [describe where and what it shows]. Walk me through what I should have checked: the terms of the tool for that use, whether anything in it is a real person or someone else’s property, and whether disclosure was expected. Tell me what to check now, and what to record alongside the file for next time.
What a good result looks like
It should send you to the actual terms of your tool rather than telling you the rule from memory. If it states a confident blanket rule about commercial use, treat that as exactly the kind of claim this lesson warns about.
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Answer all 3 correctly to complete this lesson.
1. What governs whether you can use a generated image commercially?
2. Why is generating a real, identifiable person a distinct problem?
3. What is worth recording alongside a generated image?
REMEMBER THIS
Check the tool’s terms, avoid real people and others’ property, disclose when asked, and keep the prompt.