AI-generated ad: who owns the copyright?

Who owns the copyright in an AI-generated video ad? The answer starts with a person, not a tool. Under Italy's Law 132/2025, in force since 10 October 2025, protection applies only where there is a recognisable human creative contribution. An ad produced autonomously by a model may have no rights holder at all. For anyone producing or commissioning AI video, the practical task is to be able to show the creative decisions made along the way.

What Law 132/2025 says

Law no. 132 of 23 September 2025 entered into force on 10 October 2025. Article 25 amends Article 1 of the Italian copyright act (Law 633/1941). Protected works are works of human ingenuity, including those created with the aid of AI tools, provided they result from the author's intellectual work.

As commentators explain, protection does not arise simply from using a generative tool. E-cons notes that content generated entirely by an AI system is not protected by copyright. AI is treated as an aid, not as the author, as Laleggepertutti also points out.

The law sets no numerical threshold and no list of activities that suffice. Whether human input is enough has to be assessed case by case. No formula guarantees protection today.

Generated or assisted: the difference that matters

In practice, two situations stand apart.

• Automatic output. Someone writes an instruction, the model returns a video, and it is delivered as it is. It is hard to point to recognisable human intellectual work in the result.
• Assisted work. A team writes the concept and script, draws the storyboard, chooses and directs the shots, selects among many versions, edits, corrects and composes the sound. AI is one of the tools, and the human choices can be read in the final piece.

According to Privacy Studio, works fully generated by AI are unprotected, while works where a human author guides or controls the creative process are protected. It is the logic of direction: what counts is who decides.

The US position, for international campaigns

If your campaign runs across markets, the same question arises elsewhere. In its report on copyrightability, published in January 2025, the US Copyright Office concluded that, with currently available technology, prompts alone do not give users enough control to make them the authors of the output.

The Office points to two routes to protection: human-authored work that remains perceptible in the output, and creative selection, arrangement or modification of generated material, as the Library of Congress announcement summarises. The report also says assessment is case by case.

The two jurisdictions differ, but the practical test is similar: what matters is the creative control a person exercises.

What copyright does not cover

An ad that cannot be protected as a work is not a rule-free zone. According to e-cons, contractual obligations, personality rights, trademarks, trade secrets and competition law may still apply. In practice:

• the face or voice of a real person requires explicit consent;
• brand logos, packaging and products stay protected under their own regimes;
• the production contract defines assignment, use and liability.

An unprotected video can be copied by third parties without any copyright claim. For a campaign with a significant media investment, this is a risk to assess before launch, not after.

How to show human creative contribution

Contribution is shown with documents, not statements. This is the minimum we suggest keeping for every ad:

1. Brief and concept, approved by the client and dated.
2. Script and storyboard written by people, with successive versions.
3. Original reference material supplied or created by the team (drawings, photographs, footage, music).
4. An iteration log: discarded versions and why, choices of framing, light, rhythm, casting.
5. Post-production: editing, colour, sound design, manual corrections on individual frames.
6. Reviews and approvals, with the name of the decision-maker.
7. Tools and models used, with version and licence terms.

This material does not guarantee protection, since a court would decide. But it lets you support your position and tell directed work from output delivered as it came. The full path from brief to delivery is covered in how an AI commercial is made.

What to ask a supplier

Before commissioning an AI-generated ad, these questions show whether the process is under control:

• Which creative choices are made by people, and how are they documented?
• Does the contract include delivery of the brief, storyboard and working versions?
• Which models are used, under which licence terms?
• How is consent for faces and voices handled?
• Who is responsible if a rights issue arises after delivery?

If a supplier promises full, unconditional ownership, ask how they support it. To see how we work, look at our Works page and the AI Video Production service. For a specific case, a lawyer's opinion remains the decisive step.