Summary only, not legal advice. The licence text governs; confirm with the rights holder for your use. Read more
AI images for client work
Ownership, commercial terms, training and indemnity across AI image tools.
AI tools differ on who owns output, revenue thresholds, public visibility and indemnity. Output may not be unique or protectable.
Can I use it in commercial work?
AI image tools
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Leonardo.Ai | Allowed | Allowed on free and paid plans.“Yes, you can use the images you generate on the platform for commercial purposes. This applies for free users too.” intercom.help |
| Adobe Firefly | Conditional | Non-beta outputs can be used commercially; beta outputs too unless the product says otherwise.“For features without the beta label, you can use Firefly-generated outputs in your commercial projects.” helpx.adobe.com |
| ChatGPT / DALL·E (OpenAI) | Conditional | You own the output; the terms don't name commercial uses specifically, and usage policies apply.“As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.” openai.com |
| Midjourney | Conditional | Businesses grossing over US$1M a year need a Pro or Mega plan.“If you are part of a business grossing more than $1,000,000 USD a year, you need a Pro or Mega Plan to use your images commercially for your company.” docs.midjourney.com |
| Ideogram | Unclear | Terms say not to exploit the Services commercially except as expressly permitted, and tell you to consider carefully before commercial use of output.“(E) exploit the Services for any commercial purpose, including without limitation communicating or facilitating any commercial advertisement or solicitation, except as expressly permitted by the Services;” ideogram.ai |
Can I use it in work I make for a client?
AI image tools
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Conditional | Covered by the general commercial-use statement.“For features without the beta label, you can use Firefly-generated outputs in your commercial projects.” helpx.adobe.com |
| ChatGPT / DALL·E (OpenAI) | Conditional | Ownership is assigned to you.“As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.” openai.com |
| Leonardo.Ai | Conditional | On free plans Leonardo owns the output, which matters for client deliverables.“If you are on one of our free Subscriptions (Free Subscriber), as between the Parties, ownership of all Intellectual Property Rights in any Output you, or your Authorised Users, create while using the Platform will vest in us upon creation” leonardo.ai |
| Midjourney | Conditional | You own your outputs (not upscales of others' images).“With Midjourney, you own all the images and videos you create, even if you decide to cancel your subscription.” docs.midjourney.com |
| Ideogram | Unclear | Ideogram tells you to consider permissions before commercial use.“you should carefully consider whether you should utilize any User Output that is available on the Services for commercial purposes, and what permissions you may need from third parties to do so.” ideogram.ai |
What does it say about AI (output ownership, training, indemnity)?
AI image tools
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Conditional | Indemnity only on eligible Creative Cloud for teams/enterprise plans; outputs can't be used to train AI.“This section 7 only applies if you: (1) are a Creative Cloud for teams or Creative Cloud for enterprise customer and (2) have purchased a Creative Cloud Pro Edition plan or Creative Cloud, Edition 4 plan that comes with Firefly Output indemnification (“Eligible Plan”).” wwwimages2.adobe.com |
| ChatGPT / DALL·E (OpenAI) | Conditional | Content may be used to improve services unless you opt out; no indemnity offered to users in these terms.“If you do not want us to use your Content to train our models, you can opt out by following the instructions in” openai.com |
| Ideogram | Conditional | Rights in output are assigned to you; non-private output can be remixed by other users.“we hereby assign to you all right, title and interest in and to such User Output.” ideogram.ai |
| Leonardo.Ai | Conditional | Public content can be used by Leonardo, including to improve services; private mode is paid-only.“You grant us a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide and transferable right and licence to use, reproduce, modify, copy, process, adapt, publish, transmit, create derivative works of, publicly display and distribute any Public Content for providing, maintaining, promoting and improving the Services” leonardo.ai |
| Midjourney | Conditional | Content is public and remixable by default (Stealth on Pro/Mega); Midjourney offers no indemnity — you indemnify Midjourney.“By default, Your Content is publicly viewable and remixable.” docs.midjourney.com |