The use of GenAI raises complex questions about copyright:
Who - if anyone - owns the copyright on AI-generated output?
Does copyright infringement occur when the training data that was used to generate this output contains copyrighted material?
Can you use copyrighted materials to formulate prompts?
At this moment, it is difficult to provide clear-cut answers to these questions. It will take time for lawmakers and policy makers to catch up with the latest developments.
For the time being, adhere to the following guidelines:
Do not enter copyrighted materials into the GenAI tool.
Observe caution with entering your own materials into the GenAI tool, as your prompts may be used to fine-tune the model.
Always acknowledge and cite AI-generated output in your work. Referencing conventions are still under development; however, some of the major citation style guides including APA , MLA , and Chicago already offer preliminary referencing guidelines on their websites.
When you are unsure how to cite AI-generated content, include a note in your work that explains where and how you used the AI tool and which prompts you used to do so.