• by Josh Gerben , January 13, 2025

Many on LinkedIn and other social media platforms claim that generative AI is the latest and greatest marketing tool. Marketing professionals consistently promote AI's ability to generate logos, slogans, newsletters, and various marketing materials with increased efficiency.

While AI applications may provide immediate operational benefits, they present substantial risks regarding intellectual property laws, copyrigh, and trademarks.

Risks Inherent in AI

Generative AI systems operate on extensive datasets, incorporating language and artistic content without established legal ownership rights. This results in AI models that frequently derive output from the intellectual property of others, raising significant legal questions regarding the status of generated content.

A primary concern is the opacity of training data sources, which creates substantial difficulties in verifying whether generated content appropriately derives from or substantially reproduces established intellectual property.

Copyright Violations

Most written and published content is immediately provided with copyright protection, which means that using AI for blogs, newsletters, or other written materials may expose organizations to legal liability in addition to reputational risk.

Consider the generation of blog content through AI systems. As these models typically operate without considering legal implications, they may draw extensively from copyrighted materials—including books, videos, articles, and other published content—to write that blog, creating significant risk. For longer-form content, verifying each sentence or phrase for potential copyright infringement becomes increasingly impracticable.

To address these concerns, marketing departments should use AI-generated content primarily for preliminary outlines or reference materials rather than complete works. Human-authored content ensures originality and regulatory compliance while maintaining consistent brand communication.

Trademark Infringement

Many assume that AI use for trademark elements—such as company names or logos—presents reduced risk compared to broader content generation. This isn’t entirely incorrect, but the risks can only be managed to an extent.

AI systems frequently generate assets that bear substantial similarity to works within their training data. For this reason, marketers using generative AI for logos or names should engage trademark counsel early on. Professional trademark searches conducted by qualified practitioners can verify that a name or logo created by AI does not infringe on trademark rights of another company.

How to Stay Compliant

Understanding these risks necessitates responsible AI implementation. Organizations can benefit from artificial intelligence while maintaining compliance through the following measures:

Don't skip your due diligence: Subject AI-generated materials to thorough examination, implement comprehensive review processes and defer to human-created content when legal uncertainties arise.

Educate your team: Provide marketing personnel with basic training in copyright and trademark law. Ensure access to appropriate tools for legal compliance verification and content originality confirmation.

Engage legal Eexperts: Maintain consistent collaboration with intellectual property counsel for marketing asset verification. When feasible, consult legal professionals with artificial intelligence expertise to ensure thorough evaluation.

Avoid relying too much on AI: While artificial intelligence can enhance creative processes, it should not serve as the primary source for marketing materials. Maintain human oversight throughout development phases.

Conclusion

The landscape of AI implementation presents various challenges, from copyright and trademark considerations to potential reputational impacts. Understanding these risks and implementing appropriate preventive measures is essential. Organizations can effectively utilize AI capabilities, provided they maintain consistent focus on legal compliance requirements.