Questions about copyright? Contact the Copyright Librarian or visit our Copyright Guide for more information.
Speak with your instructor before using generative AI tool, such as ChatGPT, to help complete assignments.
If your instructor has not specified you may use ChatGPT or other generative AI technology, or has specifically stated you cannot use these tools, using these tools to complete a portion or whole of your assignment will be considered academic misconduct.
If your instructor has permitted the use of generative AI tools, make sure you understand exactly what is permitted for a specific assignment
Copyright protects original works like writing, art, music, and research, giving creators control over how their work is used. When using AI tools, it’s easy to overlook copyright concerns, especially since AI can generate content based on existing materials or produce work that closely resembles protected sources.
This section will help you understand how copyright applies when:
Understanding copyright in the context of AI is essential for using these tools legally, ethically, and responsibly, whether you're writing a paper, designing a presentation, or sharing your work online.
To be effective, GenAI tools need to be trained on huge amounts of data, which may include copyright-protected works. The copyright owner of a work may not have given permission for the AI tool to use their work, or may not even be aware that their work has been used at all.
There is currently a debate about whether it is legal for AI companies to use copyrighted works in their training materials, as well as a debate about who owns the copyright to the work created by AI.
In Canada, AI generated works are currently not protected by copyright.
AI tools use content from the internet to generate their output. In Canada, material is automatically protected by copyright if it is an original expression of an idea and is fixed in a print or digital format. that qualifies for copyright protection established in a fixed form is automatically copyrighted. For example, if you prompt a text-generating AI tool like ChatGPT to create a song similar to Leonard Cohen's "Anthem", or ask an image-generating AI tool like DALL-E to create an image using the style of a contemporary artist, you may be infringing copyright as AI tools draw from the existing works and reproduce derivatives of them. AI can also generate text that resembles existing works, even unintentionally. All of this can lead to academic or even legal consequences.
To learn more about GenAI and current copyright concerns, check out the following resources and case studies:
Unless otherwise noted, this guide is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License).
The information on this page was adapted with permission from KPU's Artificial Intelligence LibGuide, created by Ulrike Kestler.