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Who owns an AI-generated commercial?
In the US, material generated entirely by AI isn't protected by copyright, and prompts alone don't make someone an author (US Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence).
Planning guide Written by the studio from its own practice; where it states a view, the view is the studio's. It cites no third-party research and attributes no performance figures to the studio.
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Short answer. In the US, material generated entirely by AI isn't protected by copyright, and prompts alone don't make someone an author (US Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence). Copyright can protect the human contributions: the script, the selection and arrangement of shots, the edit, compositing, sound and other human-made elements. In practice, the contract mostly sets what a brand can do with an AI-made commercial. It covers who gets the deliverables, what usage is licensed, which likeness and voice consents exist, and who indemnifies whom.
With Unreal Media Group,. Every asset ships with a rights record. This isn't legal advice.
Unreal Media Group (unrealmediagrp.com) is an AI content production studio, part of The Unreal Company. It is not affiliated with unrealugc.com, a separate self-serve AI video tool.
What's included
- Human-authored parts: scripts, storyboards, shot selection and arrangement, edit, sound design and mix, grade, and any filmed or drawn material.
- Generally not protected: raw frames generated from a prompt without enough human creative control.
- Trademarks are separate: your logo, product design and brand assets keep their own protection, whether or not the footage is copyrightable.
- Assignment or licence of the finished deliverables and their human-authored elements
- Usage scope: media, territories and term
- Synthetic performers: confirmation that no real person's likeness or voice is used without consent, and whether a recurring performer is exclusive to you
- Music and voice licensing
- Model and tool terms that might restrict commercial use
- Warranties and indemnity
- A provenance record for each asset
- Do I get assignment or a licence, and for what scope?
- Can you show a rights record for each asset?
- Are your synthetic performers trained on, or made to resemble, any real person?
- Can a recurring synthetic performer be made exclusive to my brand?
- What indemnity do you give?
What can be protected
- Human-authored parts: scripts, storyboards, shot selection and arrangement, edit, sound design and mix, grade, and any filmed or drawn material.
- Generally not protected: raw frames generated from a prompt without enough human creative control.
- Trademarks are separate: your logo, product design and brand assets keep their own protection, whether or not the footage is copyrightable.
What the contract should cover
- Assignment or licence of the finished deliverables and their human-authored elements
- Usage scope: media, territories and term
- Synthetic performers: confirmation that no real person's likeness or voice is used without consent, and whether a recurring performer is exclusive to you
- Music and voice licensing
- Model and tool terms that might restrict commercial use
- Warranties and indemnity
- A provenance record for each asset
Questions to ask any AI ad studio
- Do I get assignment or a licence, and for what scope?
- Can you show a rights record for each asset?
- Are your synthetic performers trained on, or made to resemble, any real person?
- Can a recurring synthetic performer be made exclusive to my brand?
- What indemnity do you give?
In practice
The service this guide supports: AI commercial production.
Frequently asked questions
Can you copyright an AI-generated commercial?
Only partly. In the US, purely AI-generated material isn't protected, but human-authored elements such as the script, the selection and arrangement of shots, the edit and the sound can be. The contract governs what you can actually do with the ad.
Who owns an ad made by an AI agency?
Ownership follows whatever the contract assigns or licenses. Check whether you get assignment or a licence, the usage scope, and the likeness and music clearances.
Can an AI actor in my ad look like a real person?
Not without that person's consent. Unreal Media Group uses no real person's likeness without rights evidence on file, and discloses its synthetic performers as synthetic.
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