Here’s our take:

Transparency 

Any use of generative AI must be disclosed to the client prior to the start of the collaboration, and the scope should be clearly defined and delimited in offers. 

For example, a designer planning on using an AI image generation tool to create cover concepts must inform the client in their offer or message and obtain the client’s written consent before proceeding. 

Intellectual property rights

Any use of AI must comply with Reedsy’s Mandatory Terms. According to clause 8 of our Terms, service providers are required to deliver original work without wholly or substantially copying from other sources, or obtain rights if they do. All final deliverables must be fully licensable to the client.

For designers: per the US Copyright Office, images generated exclusively using AI cannot be copyrighted. Consequently, if you incorporate AI-generated content in a design project, you must sufficiently modify or recreate them for the final deliverable to be copyrightable and exploitable commercially by the client.

We suggest limiting the use of AI to the initial stages of concept development and ensuring that the final product looks unequivocally different from AI-generated ideas.

Legal responsibility

Service providers bear full legal responsibility for their use of generative AI in their work, and must ensure the final product qualifies for legal protection.

In the earlier example, if a designer uses AI to create a cover, they bear the full legal responsibility to ensure that the final deliverable is without copyright issues and commercially exploitable by the client.