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Ownership of AI-generated content is a hot topic, and since Notion AI’s release, we’ve seen a wave of people wondering whether content produced with it is theirs to use freely or not.
In short, according to the Notion AI Terms at the time of writing, all content ownership lies with the user who inputted the prompt and “created” the content with Notion AI, rather than Notion itself. However, since Notion AI’s data is sourced from the internet at large, you need to be careful that you’re not accidentally using third-party content in your work that was originally created by someone else. We discuss a few other potential risks to bear in mind further down the page.
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What Do Notion’s Terms Say About AI-Generated Content Copyright?
By breaking down Notion’s various terms in more detail we can see the following:
The Notion AI Supplementary Terms (“Notion AI Terms”) state the following under “Input and Output”:
You may provide input to be processed by Notion AI (“Input”), and receive output generated and returned by Notion AI based on the Input (“Output”). When you use Notion AI, Input and Output are your Customer Data.
Although “Customer Data” isn’t defined within the Notion AI Terms (which form a part of the Master Subscription Agreement), if we take a look at the Master Subscription Agreement we can see Notion’s definition of the phrase:
“Customer Data” means all data stored by or on behalf of Customer or at Customer’s direction in the Services. Customer Data does not include Account Information. Notion sometimes refers to “User Content” in its policies and Documentation. To the extent User Content is stored in or transferred into a Customer Workspace, such User Content shall be considered Customer Data.
Finally, this is how Notion explains Customer Data in Section 3.1 of its Master Subscription Agreement:
Customer and its licensors own the Customer Data, including all Intellectual Property Rights therein. No ownership rights in the Customer Data are transferred to Notion by this Agreement.
In summary, Notion’s terms state that content produced by you with its AI is viewed as Customer Data – owned by the user. Just remember that it also means you’re responsible for any potential copyright infringements that may arise from the use of AI-generated content that was sourced from someone else’s content on the web!
Keep The Following in Mind
- Consider your own edits to AI-generated content if publishing publicly – If it’s for private or in-house use, you shouldn’t have much to worry about.
- AI-generated content isn’t always accurate – Although AI can sound confident in its delivery, it often makes factually incorrect statements, so fact-checking is important.
- This level of Generative AI is an extremely novel field – Related legal developments are bound to happen in the near future.
What Does Notion AI Think About Copyright?
Out of curiosity, we asked Notion AI directly to see what it thought of the matter, and it answered the following:
“All content produced by Notion AI is owned by the user who created it. Notion AI does not claim ownership over any content created by its users.
However, it’s important to note that Notion AI uses various sources of information to generate its content, including publicly available information and user-provided data. Therefore, users are responsible for ensuring that their content does not infringe on any copyright or intellectual property rights of others.
If you use Notion AI to create content that includes material from third-party sources, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have obtained proper permission or licenses to use that material. Notion AI cannot be held liable for any copyright infringement or other legal issues that may arise from the use of its platform.
In summary, users own the copyright to their content created with Notion AI, but they are responsible for ensuring that their content does not violate the rights of others.“
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