this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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I would like to use the image I created for a book cover and sell it, would that be okay? Or would that be illegal?

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago

Dangerous question to ask on Lemmy with a strong anti-AI "in any form" presence

Yea it would be ok, no it won't be illegal, though it might not be copyrightable

Is your audience the average joe? They probably won't even notice tbh

[–] [email protected] 37 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, but it will make your book look trashy.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

i once wanted to read a book, and upon closer inspection saw it was ai generated cover. I put it down, and left. it just doesnt feel real i guess. so even if legal, i wouldnt recommend it. just snap some picture remotely related and put some Text and color filters over it.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

I agree. I avoid any AI gen smell. It has the hallmarks of being subpar. Any images, however esoteric, would be much better.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Wow, so you literally never learned to not judge a book by its cover? That is some admirable honestly, a really brave confession.

[–] my_hat_stinks 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I also take idioms literally, I read the entire book right there before deciding whether to buy it. Obviously you can't trust how they chose to present the book so you need to read it to know if it's worth reading.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

I mean, judging by a title, a synopsis, or a review would all be a better method than the cover art.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

well, a books cover can tell you a LOT, Like the time it was written in, which is one of the core factors when i choose a book. Also regarding people, I used to be tolerant and excpect nothing, but it got me nowhere so now I openly do my silent judging, and I'm mostly right with my first impressions.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

They say with wine there's an opposite correlation, the worse the label, the better the wine. I'm not sure I agree with either. Anyway, no worries, I was just teasing a bit.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago

Ai art makes a book look like a machine wrote it, unfortunately. Getting art from a living person kinda ups the sincerity, I think.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I wouldn’t buy that book

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

So You will literally judge a book, by it's cover.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 weeks ago

Well duh, that’s why publishers use cover art

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's what the cover is for. The cover is your first impression of a book.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm not judging the book by its cover, rather the author.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

BRB calling the fire department for this burn.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago

If the author is ok with profiting off of unpaid labor then I don't care to read what they have to say

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Not illegal, just unethical. You effectively stole people's art and are profitting off of it. Considering AI is being used to take jobs from artists and writers by stealing their work, you are a scab

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

And my friend, as an artist selling your work, you could also think about this as an opportunity to connect with another artist and work together. Commission a work for your cover from a small artist, credit them prominently. They will share it with their community, you will share it with yours. Lift others up and be uplifted in turn

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Why not pay a local artist to make you a cover?

Skip the whole moral/legal hurdle and help support someone being affected by AIs takeover. I'm sure you can come to a reasonable agreement.

Or put together one yourself. A photo and some filters; or a stylized painting tool.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You could, but I wouldn't buy it. I want art that someone sweated, swore and agonised over.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I demand that my books are written by hand, with a quill pen, by candlelight. I need to know that some effort went into the creative process.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

And the author should be syphilitic and working in a drafty garret, at the very least.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

You could, but I wouldn't buy it.

If you noticed...

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It may vary depending on your jurisdiction. Under US copyright law, I believe that generated images are not copyrightable, so you wouldn't have any protections from anyone copying your cover, but I doubt that's a big concern. The model or service that you use may also have various terms in their license that restrict what you are allowed to do with the generated images. Finally, you also need to make sure that your image isn't violating someone else's copyright. If you generate an image that is too similar to an existing image, that could be problematic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Okay, yes, I don’t care if someone uses the image afterwards, and I’m not trying to copy someone else’s work either…so the big if for me is…

“is terms in their license that restrict what you are allowed to do with the generated images.”

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I’m not trying to copy someone else’s work either

ah i have bad news for you on how all current ai generation systems work

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I have bad news for you, that's how humans work too. They get trained on how to draw/paint/etc. on copyrighted material, then make derivatives.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Yes but ai doesn't add anything new. The artists in our history we value are often valued because they challenged artistic conventions. An LLM literally cannot do this.

The difference is that a human inputs their labor into their art, therefore adding value. When a machine takes hundreds of peoples labor and sells it without compensation it is exploitative but when I view hundreds of peoples labor, learn from it and add my own, I am participating in a valuable human tradition.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Be that as it may, I’ve seen a lot of art and made some myself, but recreating a Sistine Chapel is not in within my reach for the foreseeable future.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

It's not like Michelangelo did it without significant training.

"Among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master in fresco painting, perspective, figure drawing and portraiture who had the largest workshop in Florence.[16] In 1488, at the age of 13, Michelangelo was apprenticed to Ghirlandaio." -From Wikipedia

He didn't paint the chapel until 20 years later.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Fair enough!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I don’t think it would be illegal as long as a similar human-created work would be legal (i.e., it doesn’t use trademarked characters or otherwise infringe on other works). But your publisher and/or readers might object.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Its legal but unethical. If you do this you are profiting off of unpaid labor.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Stolen labor from a plagiarism machine, but even in terms of pure self interest I'd assume an AI cover means AI content.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

Just pay an artist in "exposure" lol

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 weeks ago

I’m using perchance.org