To use AI images commercially, check your tool’s licence, use a plan that grants commercial rights, avoid recognisable trademarked content, and know that purely AI-generated images may not be copyright-protected. Adobe Firefly is the safest default.

Check the licence and plan

Each tool’s terms differ. Free tiers often forbid commercial use, require attribution, or make outputs public (e.g. Ideogram free). Paid plans usually grant commercial rights — Midjourney requires Pro/Mega above $1M revenue. Always read the specific licence for your plan.

A purely AI-generated image, song or video may not be protected by copyright (US law generally requires human authorship), and many free tiers forbid commercial use, require attribution, or make your outputs public. Always check a tool’s licence and your plan’s terms before using AI work commercially. In the US, a purely AI-generated image generally cannot be copyrighted because it lacks human authorship — which means you may not be able to stop others from using it. Adding substantial human creative input can change this. For brand-critical assets, get advice.

Avoid infringement and choose safer tools

Don’t generate recognisable trademarked characters, logos or living artists’ signature styles — that risks infringement (Midjourney faces litigation). Adobe Firefly is trained on licensed/stock data and marketed as commercially safer, making it a sensible default for business use.

If you find yourself juggling a separate subscription for chat, automation, transcription and image generation, one option worth knowing is a single platform that runs them together — osFoundry is one such agentic AI platform that consolidates chat, agents and internal apps in one workspace, with a bring-your-own-key model so you choose the underlying AI.

This article is general information, not professional, legal or financial advice. AI tools, prices and availability change fast — verify current details on the official source before you rely on them.