AI Image Generation for Your Website: Opportunities and Copyright Traps
AI image generation tools like Midjourney, OpenAI's Image Generator (formerly DALL·E), and Google's AI (Gemini) have made it possible to create unique, professional-looking images in seconds—without photography or expensive stock photo licenses. But there are important things to know before using AI images on your website.
Benefits of AI-generated images
- Speed and cost: An image can be generated in seconds at a fraction of the cost of a stock photo or photographer
- Unique visual expression: You avoid the same recognizable stock photos that your competitors may already be using
- Adaptation: You can generate images in a very specific style, color palette or composition that matches your brand
- Iteration: Easy to generate multiple variants and choose the best one
Limitations and challenges
- Detail consistency: AI images can have noticeable flaws – especially hands, text in images, and symmetrical patterns
- Generic “AI look”: Certain AI models produce images with a recognizable, slightly artificial aesthetic that can seem impersonal
- Copyright uncertainty: The legislation surrounding AI-generated content copyright is still evolving in many countries
Copyright: What you should know The rules vary from country to country and are still being legally clarified. In general, the following applies:
- Whether AI-generated images can be copyrighted remains legally uncertain in several jurisdictions, including the EU.
- You should always check the specific AI provider's terms for commercial use of generated images, as they vary significantly.
- Don't use AI to generate images that mimic a named artist's style too closely, or that contain recognizable trademarks, logos, or real people
- Be aware that some AI models are trained on images with unclear copyright origin, which has led to lawsuits in several countries
Recommended use on your website
AI images work well for:
- Illustrative graphics, backgrounds and decorative elements
- Conceptual visualizations where photorealism is not necessary
- Quick visual drafts in the design process
Be more cautious with AI images for:
- Product images in a webshop where the customer expects to see the real product
- Images of “employees” or “customers” that may be misleading to your visitors
- Content where authenticity and trust are crucial, such as about-us pages
Our recommendation
Use AI image generation as a complement to, not a replacement for, real photography and professional design, especially where trust and authenticity are crucial to conversion.
