What are the copyright laws surrounding AI generated art tools like Midjourney, and can I legally copyright an illustration where I wrote the prompt but edited the final output in Photoshop?
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Fan-out diagram
The searches the AI actually ran for this prompt.
SEED QUERY
What are the copyright laws surrounding AI generated art tools like Midjourney, and can I legally copyright an illustration where I wrote the prompt but edited the final output in Photoshop?
3 real searches · 1 real-search pass
U.S. Copyright Office copyright registration guidance works containing material generated by artificial intelligence human authorship Photoshop edits prompt 2025Google ↗
OBSERVEDDefinition
Midjourney terms of service ownership rights generated images commercial use current 2026Google ↗
OBSERVEDConsequence
Thaler v Perlmutter AI copyright human authorship latest court decision 2025Google ↗
OBSERVEDReason
Badge and edge weight = share of passes that produced the query. Hover a query for its intent and routing format.
Query classes
Google's semantic query class for every sub-query: what kind of answer each search is after, simulated vs real.
ChatGPT real searches (3)
Classes come from the query-classifier (a local Laya model). 3 of 3 calls are low-confidence (under 50%) — hover a query in the table to see its confidence.
Searches and sources
ChatGPT3 real searches · gpt-6
U.S. Copyright Office copyright registration guidance works containing material generated by artificial intelligence human authorship Photoshop edits prompt 2025 Google ↗
Midjourney terms of service ownership rights generated images commercial use current 2026 Google ↗
Thaler v Perlmutter AI copyright human authorship latest court decision 2025 Google ↗
- NewsNet Issue 1060 · copyright.gov
- United States Copyright Office · copyright.gov
- Thaler v. Perlmutter, No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. 2025) :: Justia · law.justia.com
- Terms of Service · docs.midjourney.com
- Using Images & Videos Commercially · docs.midjourney.com
- Registration Guidance for Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence · copyright.gov
Queries
3 queries · click a column to sort
| Query / type | Search | Intent | Query class | Routing format | Cluster | Freq ↓ | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Copyright Office copyright registration guidance works containing material generated by artificial intelligence human authorship Photoshop edits prompt 2025 OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Definition | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
Midjourney terms of service ownership rights generated images commercial use current 2026 OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Consequence | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
Thaler v Perlmutter AI copyright human authorship latest court decision 2025 OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Reason | — | — | 1x of 1 |