Your Cheat Sheet to AI Copyright

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Marketer In The Loop
March 08, 2025

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Hey, marketers in the loop!

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Now, two quick productivity resources:

  1. Inbox overload? Meet Cora, an email management tool I've been testing (and loving) for months. They're currently at 10,000+ on the waitlist, but I secured 100 invites for you to skip the line. Grab yours here before they are gone.

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Onward.

-Rei

  • AI and Copyright Updates

  • Tofu’s AI-Powered Personalization Case Study

  • 3 Change Management Actions to Support AI Adoption

  • And Much More

Reading time: 7 minutes

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“What are the key copyright and intellectual property concerns when using AI-generated content?”

AI and Copyright Updates – A 2025 Guide for Marketers

Yes, AI is rewriting the rules of content creation – but what about copyright? If your marketing team is using generative AI for blogs, social posts, ads, or any design, it’s crucial to understand how recent copyright guidelines affect you. Below is a detailed guide to the latest insights (as of 2025) on AI-generated content and copyright, with practical takeaways for marketers.

1. Can You Copyright AI-Generated Content? Human Authorship Still Reigns

The short answer: No, not if it’s purely AI-generated. The U.S. Copyright Office’s 2025 report reaffirms that only works with substantial human creative input are eligible for copyright. Simply providing a text prompt or making minor edits doesn’t make you the author.

However, using AI as a tool is fine if a human determines the expressive elements. If an AI drafts a paragraph and you rewrite, reorganize, and add original ideas, the parts you wrote are protected. But a fully AI-generated blog post or image has no copyright protection - meaning competitors could reuse it, and you’d have no legal recourse.

Some examples:

  • A blog post lightly edited from AI text is not protected.

  • A marketer who rewrites, restructures, and infuses brand voice gets protection for the human-created portions.

  • AI-generated images used in ads are likely unprotected unless creatively altered by a human designer.

2. The AI Training Data Dilemma – Copyright Infringement Risks

AI models are trained on vast amounts of data, which could eventually be copyrighted content. While AI tools aim to avoid direct copying, outputs can unintentionally resemble existing works. If an AI-generated ad copy or image closely mirrors copyrighted material, you could face legal trouble.

How to stay safe:

  • Run plagiarism checks on AI-written content.

  • Reverse image search AI-generated visuals.

  • Be cautious with niche prompts that may regurgitate existing work.

  • If AI-generated content is critical to a campaign, have legal review its originality before publication.

3. Who Owns AI Outputs? Ownership ≠ Copyright

Many AI tools claim that you “own” the output. However, this does not mean you have copyright protection. If AI generates an ad tagline and a competitor uses the same phrase, you might not be able to stop them.

Key takeaways:

  • AI-generated content is often non-exclusive - others may get similar results.

  • If exclusivity matters (e.g., logos, slogans), ensure significant human involvement.

  • Consider trademarking important branding elements that involve AI-assisted creativity.

4. Global Copyright Trends for AI Content

Most countries are aligning with the U.S. stance that human authorship is required for copyright protection:

  • EU: No protection for fully AI-generated works. New regulations focus on AI training data transparency and data mining restrictions.

  • UK: Reviewing laws that previously allowed computer-generated works to have copyright, with potential changes ahead.

  • Canada: Likely moving toward requiring human authorship following a government consultation.

  • Elsewhere: Many countries are following similar trends, reinforcing human originality as a core principle.

5. Protecting Your Own IP

Marketers should also safeguard their proprietary data when using AI. In general, avoid entering confidential or strategic information into free tiers or non-approved AI tools, as some platforms store prompts for training. For example, if you feed a draft press release about a confidential product into an AI for editing, that text might inadvertently become part of the AI’s training data and emerge elsewhere.

How to protect yourself: Establish clear internal policies on AI use. If your company hasn’t yet, set guidelines on what kind of data can or cannot be put into AI systems​. Many AI tools now offer privacy settings – use them. Some let you opt out of having your prompts saved or used to train models. Educate your team: a quick training on the do’s and don’ts of AI can prevent an inadvertent leak of client data or upcoming campaign details.

Marketer’s Checklist:

✅ Emphasize Human Creativity – Use AI for inspiration but ensure meaningful human edits.

✅ Vet AI Outputs – Check for accidental plagiarism before publishing.

✅ Understand AI Tool Terms – Read the fine print on ownership rights.

✅ Protect Sensitive Information – Avoid inputting confidential data into AI systems.

✅ Stay Informed – Copyright laws are evolving—monitor updates from the U.S. Copyright Office and other regulators.

✅ Develop Internal AI Use Policies – Define guidelines for AI use in marketing to ensure compliance and originality.

Final Thoughts

AI is a powerful tool, but copyright protection still hinges on human creativity. To maximize legal safeguards, marketers should lead AI, not just use it - ensuring their unique contributions remain protected.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Please reach out to your legal partner for formal advice.

Vic.ai Enhances Marketing Outreach with Tofu's AI-Powered Personalization

Vic.ai, an AI accounts payable company based in New York, faced challenges in creating personalized content efficiently for their campaigns. With a small team responsible for numerous campaigns, manual personalization was time-consuming and led to underperforming email metrics, including low open and click-through rates. Even with tools like ChatGPT, the process remained cumbersome and lacked scalability.

"We really wanted to leverage technology and AI to augment the team. It's a small team that needs to handle a lot of campaigns and create a lot of content."

Lotta Lundaas, VP of Marketing at Vic.ai

The Solution: Implementing Tofu for Scalable Personalization

To address these challenges, Vic.ai adopted Tofu's AI-powered platform to automate and enhance their content personalization efforts. Key implementations included:

  • Personalized Email Campaigns: Utilizing Tofu, Vic.ai generated highly personalized emails and dynamic landing pages for approximately 2,000 companies. The AI incorporated specific details, such as a company's retail locations or unique strategies, which were previously difficult to extract manually.

  • Automated Content for Stalled Opportunities: Vic.ai's marketing team created personalized press releases and FAQs for stalled sales opportunities. Tofu automated this process by integrating with HubSpot, generating long-form content tailored to each opportunity, and reintegrating it back into their CRM.

The Impact: Improved Engagement and Efficiency

Implementing Tofu's AI-driven personalization led to significant improvements:

  • Increased Click-Through Rates: Personalized email campaigns saw click-through rates rise from 6% to 19%, with read rates increasing from 50% to 65%.

  • Accelerated Sales Engagements: In campaigns targeting stalled opportunities, Vic.ai booked 3 times more meetings, a notable increase from previous efforts.

  • Operational Efficiency: Automating the creation of press releases and FAQs saved approximately 150 hours over 50 opportunities, allowing the team to focus more on strategy and less on manual tasks.

Future Outlook: Expanding AI Applications in Marketing

The success with Tofu has encouraged Vic.ai to explore additional AI applications in their marketing strategies. The team continues to identify new use cases, leveraging Tofu's capabilities to enhance various aspects of their outreach and engagement efforts.

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