Copyright in AI video

By Syntax Motion, Vienna. Updated: 16 October 2026

Purely AI-generated videos are, on the prevailing view in Austria and Germany, not protected by copyright, because the law requires a human intellectual creation. What can be protected is the human part: script, selection, edit and finishing. What you are allowed to use is settled on top of that by the terms of the tools and by your contract with the agency.

General information, not legal advice. Every statement here is checked against the primary sources linked below, as of 9 October 2026. For your project, the contract we sign with you is what counts.

Are AI videos protected by copyright?

A video generated by an AI without a meaningful human contribution to its form is, as the law stands, generally not a protected work. Both legal systems presuppose a human creator. A prompt on its own is not enough for that, on the prevailing view.

Jurisdiction	What the statute requires	Source
Austria	"distinctive intellectual creations in the fields of literature, music, fine art and film"	§ 1(1) UrhG
Germany	"Works within the meaning of this Act are only personal intellectual creations."	§ 2(2) UrhG
EU (CJEU case law)	a human being's "own intellectual creation" expressing their "free and creative choices"	cited after German Ministry of Justice, FAQ March 2024

The German Ministry of Justice puts it plainly: purely AI-based content therefore enjoys no copyright protection (BMJ). For Austria the Vienna firm KWR reaches the same conclusion: fully autonomously generated AI products are not covered as the law stands (KWR, 19 January 2023). KWR also considers the Austrian neighbouring right for photographs unlikely to apply to AI images.

The United States takes a similar line. The U.S. Copyright Office states that prompts alone do not create protection (U.S. Copyright Office, January 2025).

Which human contribution can be protected

Anything a human shaped in the AI video itself can be protected. The German ministry describes a case by case line: what matters is whether sufficient influence over the concrete form stays with the human. In a commercial, several layers qualify.

Script and concept: text written by people can be protected as a literary work.
Selection and arrangement: which shots run in which order, in other words the edit.
Finishing: deliberate retouching, compositing, colour grading and effects.
Human contributions: hand drawn storyboards, composed music, recorded voices.

The U.S. Copyright Office likewise sees protection in the creative arrangement or modification of output. Using AI as a tool does not rule protection out there (U.S. Copyright Office). How far that protection reaches for an AI spot in the German speaking market has not been decided by a court.

What this means for usage rights in AI advertising

For advertising it means your protection against imitators is weaker with AI spots than with filmed material. That makes the contract, the documentation and registered trademarks more important. Put the following points in writing with your agency.

Scope: media, territories, duration and the right to edit, for every humanly shaped part.
Exclusivity: an undertaking that subjects and characters are not reused for other clients.
Handover: which files you receive, project files, single clips and styleframes for example.
Tools: which AI tools are used and at which licence tier.
Liability: who answers if a third party brings a claim.
Documentation: which steps were shaped by people. That helps to evidence the protected part later.

A broader view of the opportunities and risks is in our guide to AI advertising.

The terms of the AI tools

Whether an AI video may be used commercially also depends on the terms of the tool and on the plan you booked. These terms change often. They should therefore be checked at the time of production.

One example: under the Midjourney terms of service, users own their outputs "to the fullest extent possible under applicable law". Companies with more than one million US dollars of annual revenue need a Pro or Mega plan for that (Midjourney Terms of Service, version of 27 May 2026). A clause like that does not create a copyright that national law does not grant.

We work only with services whose plan permits commercial use of the generated content, and we record for every project which tools ran at which licence tier. You get that list for your project on request. If a provider changes its terms, we check again before the next production.

Personality rights and trademark law

Even without copyright, an AI video can infringe the rights of others. That concerns above all resemblance to real people, voices and brands. These risks stay with the advertiser, no matter how the content was made.

The likeness and voice of real people

In Austria, likenesses may not be distributed where this would injure the legitimate interests of the person depicted (§ 78 UrhG). In Germany, distributing a likeness generally requires the consent of the person depicted (§ 22 KUG).

Voice and likeness are not protected by copyright, as the German ministry notes, but deepfakes can violate the general right of personality (BMJ). For advertising that means no lookalikes of known people and no imitated voices. If specific real people have to appear, a shoot or a hybrid commercial is usually the better route.

Other people's brands and works in frame

AI tools sometimes generate logos, packaging or characters that resemble real ones. Using a confusingly similar sign in the course of trade can infringe trademark rights (§ 10 MSchG, § 14 MarkenG). The ministry adds that it has to be checked whether pre-existing works are recognisable in the AI result.

Training data: the open question

Whether AI models may be trained on protected works is not finally settled. For advertisers that is mainly a question to put to the tool providers. Your own risk lies more in a result resembling a protected work too closely.

German copyright law permits text and data mining as long as the rights holder has not declared a machine readable reservation (§ 44b UrhG). Austria regulates text and data mining in § 42h UrhG. In 2024 the Hamburg Regional Court held the creation of the LAION training dataset to be lawful (LTO on 310 O 227/23).

The Hamburg Higher Regional Court dismissed the appeal on 10 December 2025 and allowed a further appeal to the Federal Court of Justice (Norton Rose Fulbright on 5 U 104/24). Providers of large AI models must also publish a summary of their training data under the EU AI Act (BMJ).

How Syntax Motion handles the rights

On payment in full you receive a non-exclusive right of use in the delivered final version, unlimited in territory and in time, for the purpose named in the offer. Without a separate agreement that means your own digital channels including paid advertising on them. Television, cinema, out of home, use by third parties and any form of exclusivity are agreed separately. We deliver the final version in the agreed formats plus a master file; open project files on request for a surcharge. For logos, photographs and music you supply, the rights check stays with you; we check every shot for recognisable real people and third party brands. All of it in clauses 5 and 6 of our terms.

In client projects we check every shot for resemblance to real people and to other brands. How we plan the labelling is in the guide on AI labelling. The full process of a production is described here.

Frequently asked questions

Are AI videos protected by copyright?

Purely AI-generated videos are, on the prevailing view, protected neither in Austria nor in Germany, because the law requires a human intellectual creation (§ 1 Austrian UrhG, § 2(2) German UrhG). Protection can exist for human parts such as script, edit and finishing.

Who owns the rights in an AI commercial?

That is settled above all by the contract between you and the agency. Copyright arises only in the humanly shaped part. The terms of the tools used apply on top. Agree scope, exclusivity, file handover and liability in writing.

May AI videos be used commercially?

In many cases yes, if the tool and the booked plan permit commercial use. Midjourney, for instance, requires a Pro or Mega plan for companies above one million US dollars of annual revenue. On top of that, no third party rights may be infringed.

May AI videos be uploaded to YouTube?

Yes, as long as no third party rights are infringed. YouTube does require disclosure where realistic content makes it appear that a real person said or did something that never happened. Clearly unrealistic or animated content is exempt (YouTube Help).

Sources

Plan the rights cleanly from the start

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