Who owns AI-generated game assets?
Two separate questions decide it. Can you use it? That's set by each tool's terms, and 29% of the tools we track allow commercial use only on paid plans. Can anyone else copy it? In the US, purely AI-generated assets aren't protected by copyright, but your own edits and the way you combine assets into a game are.
What US law says
- The US Copyright Office's January 2025 report on copyrightability says material generated from prompts alone isn't copyrightable, because prompts don't give enough control over the output. Human edits, original drawing and creative selection and arrangement can be.
- In Thaler v. Perlmutter (D.C. Circuit, March 18, 2025), the court held that the Copyright Act requires a human author.
- Other countries differ. The UK, for example, has a specific rule for computer-generated works.
What this means for your game
- Your game as a whole (design, code you wrote, level layout, story, the combination of assets) is still yours.
- A raw AI sprite or track on its own may be copyable by others. Editing it by hand strengthens your claim.
- Keep records: which tool, which plan, which prompts, and what you changed.
- Don't generate known characters, logos or a living artist's style; that's an infringement risk, whoever owns the output.
Tools that allow commercial use only on paid plans
If you're on a free plan with these tools, you may not be allowed to sell what you make. Check the tool page for the exact plan.
- AIVA: Free: AIVA owns works, no monetization. Standard: limited monetization (YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram). Pro: you own full copyright.
- Aura: Customer owns all Output (ToS 4.2); paid subscriptions allow internal business use, while free trials and betas are limited to internal evaluation.
- Beatoven.ai: Licence is granted when you download a track (paid); non-exclusive and perpetual. Beatoven keeps ownership; resale and distribution to streaming platforms are not allowed.
- Buildbox: You own the game content you create (not Buildbox's assets); exporting a game to sell needs the Pro plan since Beginner is preview-only, and the Terms let Buildbox apply its ad monetization with a revenue share.
- Cascadeur: Free: no commercial use. Indie: commercial use only if revenue or funding is under $100k/yr. Pro and Teams: full commercial use.
- DeepMotion: Freemium accounts are personal/non-commercial only; a commercial licence comes with the paid Starter, Innovator, Professional and Studio plans.
- ElevenLabs: All paid plans include a commercial licence (except Beta Services); the free plan cannot be used commercially
- Kaedim: Users own models created while subscribed (ToS section 3.2)
- Krea: Commercial license only on paid plans (Basic and up); free-plan images not licensed for commercial use
- Mubert: Commercial/monetized use needs Pro or higher; Creator is non-commercial; games: indie on Pro, larger studios on Business.
- OpenArt: Commercial use only on Plus tier and above (not Starter); free outputs may carry a watermark.
- Plask: Plask's FAQ says copyrights in animations created by subscribers belong to them, and its Terms grant commercial-use rights to paid commercial-plan subscribers, while the base service licence is personal and non-commercial.
- Rodin (Hyper3D): The ToS places no limits on use of Rodin Output, but 'unlimited export and any use' comes with Creator and above; ChatAvatar commercial licensing needs Business or a purchased licence.
- Rosebud AI: Commercial rights only on 10x Dev ($30/mo) and Pro; not on Free or Indie Dev; Rosebud takes no revenue share
- Scenario: Paid plans: full commercial license, and you own generated assets. Free plan: personal/evaluation use only.
- SEELE AI: Commercial-use rights require Pro ($50/mo) or above, not Standard
- Sloyd: The free Guest plan is personal-use only; Plus and Pro include a commercial licence, only Pro allows redistribution or marketplace reselling, and commercial rights stop for new work after you cancel.
- Soundraw: Paid plans allow commercial use incl. video games; tracks used as downloaded stay licensed only while subscribed; Creator not for standalone music releases.
- Sprite-AI: Allowed on paid plans
- Stable Audio: Allowed on paid plans
- Suno: Free-plan songs non-commercial only; songs downloaded as a paying subscriber carry commercial rights
- Tripo: Free-plan models are public and for non-commercial use only; Pro, Max and Team plans make models private and include commercial use.
- Uthana: Paid usage includes commercial rights. On the Free Plan, Uthana owns outputs and licenses them under Creative Commons.
Publishing on Steam? See how to publish an AI game on Steam for Valve's disclosure rules.