Can You Copyright AI-Generated Content? Here’s How to Make Sure Your Work Is Protected

Artificial Intelligence, or AI is an incredibly powerful tool that has officially gone mainstream. While everyday use is still pretty new – my brother in law even thinking to use ChatGPT is still pretty rare, online business owners have dived in with gusto. 

AI has transformed how bloggers and content creators operate, allowing them to seriously speed up content creation. 

But using AI in your business is not without its drawbacks. 

While copyright automatically applies to original works, the same cannot be said or AI generated content.

Which means someone can “steal” your AI content and there isn’t much you can do about it. 

Related Post: What to do when someone steals your blog content.

In this post, I’ll break down exactly how copyright law currently applies to AI-generated or AI-assisted content.

More importantly I’ll cover how you can blend AI assistance with your own (human) authorship to make sure your content is protected.

What Copyright Law Says About AI-Generated Content

At its core, copyright law is designed to protect original works of human authorship.

U.S. copyright law doesn’t recognize copyright ownership in works that are entirely created by a machine, even if that machine was prompted or guided by a human.

So what does that mean in the modern day of content creation?

If you use a tool like ChatGPT or another AI to write a blog post, and you hit publish without significantly altering it or adding your own input, voice, or creativity, that content likely isn’t going to be protected by copyright. 

That means someone else could copy and paste it, use it as their own, and you wouldn’t have a solid legal leg to stand on.

To be eligible for copyright protection, a work must:

• Be original (not copied)
• Show a minimal level of creativity
• Be created by a human author

Even if you came up with the prompt and reviewed the result, if you didn’t add meaningful human input into the final piece, the law doesn’t consider it “yours” in a copyright sense. Basically, you can’t copyright what a robot wrote. Even if you were the one telling the robot what to write.

Why This Matters for Bloggers and Digital Creators

For bloggers, content creators, and online business owners, this isn’t just a technical legal issue—it’s a business risk.

If you’re using AI to churn out content that doesn’t include enough of your own voice, perspective, or edits, that work may not be protected by copyright. That means:

• You can’t file a DMCA takedown if someone copies and pastes your AI-written blog post.
• You can’t stop others from using or republishing it, even if it ranks well or drives significant traffic.
• You could be in breach of platform policies, like for self-published books or online courses, that require you to own the rights to your content.

For online entrepreneurs who rely on content to grow their audience, build trust, and sell digital products, that’s a big problem.

So while AI can help speed up your content creation process, it shouldn’t take it over completely. 

How to Retain Copyright Protection When Using AI

Just because AI content can’t be copyrighted doesn’t mean you have to avoid using AI altogether. 

The key is to use AI tools as a support system or assistant—not a substitute or replacement—for your own creative input. Here’s how to do that effectively:

Use AI as a Starting Point, Not the Final Product

AI can be incredibly helpful for brainstorming, outlining, and even generating rough drafts. But what it gives you is just that—a starting point. Think of AI content like a lump of clay: it’s not art until you shape it.

Examples of AI-assisted tasks:

• Generating content outlines
• Rewriting blocks of text to overcome writer’s block
• Summarizing research or legal text in simpler terms

Infuse Human Creativity and Judgment

To create something that’s copyrightable, you need to contribute something original—your voice, your stories, your commentary. That means:

• Adding personal examples or experiences
• Rewriting and editing for tone, clarity, and style
• Providing analysis, opinions, or actionable advice that only you could give

This human touch not only makes your content legally yours—it also makes it more valuable to your audience. The more value you provide the better your content will do.

Keep Documentation

If you’re blending AI with your own work, consider keeping basic records of how you contributed:

• Save initial AI outputs and your revised versions
• Track which sections were entirely written by you
• Use version control tools or even comments in your drafts

This can help demonstrate your authorship if there’s ever a dispute and shows good faith in protecting your work. When in doubt if you’ve made the content “yours” run it through an AI detector like Originality.AI which will review and establish if content is likely AI or likely original. While it’s not perfect and I’ve seen it find sections it believed were AI in content that I wrote years before AI was a thing, it’s still a pretty solid indicator.

AI Disclosures and Transparency Best Practices

While AI-assisted content can be protected if it reflects your human authorship, being transparent about your use of AI can help further establish your claim to the work—and build trust with your audience.

When (and Why) to Disclose AI Use

There’s no legal requirement in the U.S. (though the AI act out of the EU does reference a need for disclosures) to disclose every time you use AI, but there are strategic reasons to do so:

• Build trust: Your audience appreciates honesty about how your content is created.
• Stake your claim: A clear disclosure helps set boundaries—“This is my work, and here’s how it was created.”

If you’re using AI tools in your content creation process—especially in public-facing content like blog posts, lead magnets, or sales pages—it’s worth having an AI disclosure policy in place.

Need help crafting a legally sound AI disclosure? It’s included in my Website Legal Templates Bundle.

Bottom Line

AI can be an incredible tool for your business, especially if you’re a solopreneur—but like any tool, it needs to be used wisely.

If you’re publishing content generated entirely by AI without adding or inserting your own creativity, voice, and input, you’re leaving it unprotected. 

However, when you use AI as a collaborator or assistant and infuse your own voice, perspective, and creativity, that content becomes yours—and it can be eligible for copyright protection.

So go ahead and let AI help you brainstorm, outline, or beat blank page syndrome. Just don’t forget to bring your own input and ideas to the table to make the content unique and original.