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defaultj470prnwuctv
Participant
May 22, 2025
Question

Is it legally okay to generative expand on another person's copyrighted image?

  • May 22, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 190 views

Hi, I appreciate AI is a bit of a wild wild west situation at the moment! Just wondering if anyone has guidance on this subject though!

I work for a company who feature content from big retailer/FMCG/hospitality brands. Occasionally we have to try and expand an image of (for example) a person against a backdrop of some sorts, to fit the graphic we're creating. Are we legally allowed to do this? I ask, because presumably the actual photographer/brand holds copyright and any alterations to images prior to AI would previously have been prohibited by law.
We are in theory, promoting that brand, and it could be a subtle extensions of the image that people probably wouldn't notice, but they don't get to ever see it to okay it and I know some companies have incredibly fussy visual merchandising standards. Even if it's a subtle extention of the backdrop only, would it be legal/above board as the whole image would have then been run through AI? What if they aren't okay with having their stuff put through AI? I geniunely don't know what the answer is to this so any help is appreciated.

Thanks all!

2 replies

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ExUSA
Legend
May 22, 2025

www.copyright.gov if you are in the USA.

 

And I'd talk to the originator of the images, such as the ad agency. They will be able to help with the original license and usage terms. Generally, commercial images are licensed with modifications allowed but that is specific to the agreement you have for use.

You also may need to label images modified this way which is a whole nother issue.

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    defaultj470prnwuctvAuthor
    Participant
    May 26, 2025

    Ahh we're actually in the UK, but yes I agree with you, we *should* be speaking with the original creators of the image, though timeframes of turning around the work would not allow generally. So best case is to avoid editing these images altogether I would expect. I agree on the labelling too! Thank you for your reply!

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 22, 2025

    It would depend on the terms of the license you have to use the original image. If not explicitly allowed, I would presume it is not OK.

    In addition, you may want to check with your client whether generated AI image content is allowed at all as the copyright of generated images is itself a minefield.

    Note : I am not a lawyer, these views are my own.

    Dave

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      defaultj470prnwuctvAuthor
      Participant
      May 26, 2025

      Thank you for your reply! So we would not have any license to these images, unlike somehting bought off of Shutterstock etc. They're belonging to the brand, say, for example, H&M! We would just add their official images to our graphics that promote their store within the area. H&M HQ are actually unlikely to know what we're doing with the images. So I would expect that generally, we wouldn't have any right to put their images through AI or to manually edit anything, that sounds like that mirrors what you're saying?

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