AI Wrote It. So Who Owns It?

You probably used AI at least once this week. Maybe it drafted your sales page, outlined your next podcast episode, or turned a rambling voice memo into a polished client email. No judgment. I use it too.

But here’s what I keep seeing in my practice: business owners are adopting AI tools much faster than they’re asking basic questions about them. Who owns what the tool creates? What happens to the client info you paste in? Can you get in trouble for something a chatbot wrote?

None of this means you should stop using AI. It means you should use it like a business owner, not like someone who just downloaded a fun new app. Let’s walk through the big legal issues, starting with the one that surprises people most.

1. You might not own what AI makes for you

Copyright protects original work created by humans. Not machines. And this is no longer a “we’ll see” situation. In March 2026, the Supreme Court declined to review Thaler v. Perlmutter, leaving in place a 2025 appeals court ruling that backed the Copyright Office’s position that a work needs a human author to be protected. 

So what does that mean for you? If AI generates your logo, your course workbook, or your brand illustrations with little creative input from you, those pieces may not be protectable at all. A competitor could copy them, and you’d have very little to stand on.

It gets more specific. The Copyright Office has taken the position that prompts by themselves generally don’t give you enough control over the result to count as authorship. Typing “make me a moody, luxe brand photo for a med spa” doesn’t make you the author of what comes back. 

Where you DO have protection is in the human parts: your original writing, your meaningful edits, and the way you select and arrange the pieces. So for anything central to your brand (your signature framework, your flagship course, your logo), put real human creativity into it. Keep your drafts, notes, and version history, too. Future you will be very glad you did.

2. AI can hand you someone else’s work without telling you

AI tools learn from enormous amounts of existing content, and sometimes the output looks an awful lot like something that already exists. The tool won’t warn you. It will hand it over with total confidence, like that friend who swears the restaurant is open and it closed in 2019.

If you publish an image that closely mirrors a known illustrator’s work, or copy that sounds suspiciously like a competitor’s sales page, “the AI did it” isn’t a defense. You’re the one who published it.

Trademarks are the sneaky version of this. Ask AI to brainstorm names for your new program and it may cheerfully suggest one that’s already registered in your industry. I’ve registered more than 150 trademarks, and the clearance search is the step people skip most often. It’s also the most expensive one to skip, because rebranding after a cease-and-desist letter costs far more than checking first.

A few easy habits help here. Run a reverse image search on AI visuals before using them commercially. Put important copy through a plagiarism checker. And never prompt “in the style of [living artist or brand]” for anything you plan to sell.

3. What you paste in doesn’t always stay private

This is the one I worry about most for my clients.

When you paste a client’s contract, a coaching client’s personal story, or your own financials into an AI tool, where does it go? Depending on the tool and your settings, your inputs may be stored, reviewed by people at the company, or used to train future versions of the model.

That creates three separate problems. The first is confidentiality. If you signed an NDA (a nondisclosure agreement), or your client contract promises to keep their information private, feeding it into a public AI tool could be a breach.

The second is trade secrets. Your secret sauce is only legally protected as a trade secret if you take reasonable steps to keep it secret. Uploading it to a third-party platform can weaken that protection.

The third is privacy law. If you handle sensitive personal information like health details, financial info, or anything involving kids, state privacy laws may limit how you can share it. Spa, aesthetics, and wellness owners, this one is especially for you. The rules vary by state, so it’s worth a quick check for your specific situation.

The fix is simpler than it sounds. Read the data settings for every AI tool you use, turn off model training where you can, consider paid business tiers with stronger privacy terms, and strip out names and identifying details before you paste anything in.

4. Your contracts probably don’t mention AI (and they should)

Most small business contracts were written before AI became part of daily work. That leaves gaps in both directions.

With clients, think back to point one. If your contract promises clients they’ll own everything you create for them, but part of that work is AI-generated, you may be promising rights you can’t actually deliver. Your contract should be clear about how you use AI and what the client really receives.

With contractors, the risk flips. If the designer, copywriter, or VA you hire uses AI to create your deliverables, you might be paying for work you can’t fully own, or work that borrows a little too heavily from someone else. Your contractor agreements should say whether AI use is allowed, require them to tell you when they use it, and make them responsible for delivering work that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights.

One more thing I’m seeing more often: some clients now ask vendors not to use AI on their projects at all. If you agree to that, you and your whole team need to actually follow it.

5. The robot is confident. It is not always correct.

AI makes things up. Statistics, quotes, sources, and even court cases. Lawyers have been sanctioned for filing briefs citing cases that AI completely invented. Not a great look.

If you’re a coach, consultant, or course creator, you’re responsible for what you tell clients and prospects, whether you wrote it or a chatbot did. Inaccurate claims about results, income, or health outcomes can create real liability. Federal rules also now prohibit fake reviews and testimonials, including ones generated by AI.

And don’t oversell your own AI use, either. Marketing a “proprietary AI-powered program” that’s really a chatbot with a nice logo can turn into a deceptive advertising problem. The FTC has already gone after businesses for exaggerated AI claims.

6. Your website needs to catch up, too

If you use an AI chatbot on your site, an AI note-taker on discovery calls, or any AI tool that processes customer data, your privacy policy should say so. Many of the policies I review were written years ago and don’t mention AI at all.

Those AI note-takers deserve a special mention. Recording laws vary by state, and some (California included) require everyone on the call to consent. A quick “Hey, mind if my AI assistant takes notes?” goes a long way.

While you’re at it, skim the terms of service for the tools you rely on most. They spell out who owns the output, what the company can do with your inputs, and who’s on the hook if something goes wrong. Usually, it’s you.

Your AI legal quick-start

Here’s where to begin this week:

1. List every AI tool your business uses, including the ones your team or contractors use.
2. Check each tool’s data and training settings.
3. Add real human creativity to your most important brand assets, and save your work trail.
4. Update your client and contractor agreements to address AI.
5. Update your privacy policy to reflect how you actually use AI.
6. Create a simple AI policy for anyone who works with you.
7. Fact-check everything AI produces before it goes out into the world.

Want the full roadmap?

I know that’s a lot. That’s exactly why I created How to Use AI for Legal in Business, a free guide to help you use AI with confidence, without creating legal headaches you’ll have to clean up later.

–> Download the Free Guide Here <–

AI is a brilliant assistant. Just remember you’re still the one in charge.