An agency delivers a campaign generated largely with AI. The client asks for a warranty that it owns the work outright and that it infringes nothing.
Neither statement can be made as confidently as the contract assumes, and that gap — between what creative contracts have always promised and what AI-assisted work can actually deliver — is where the disputes are starting.
Can AI output be copyrighted?
Pakistani copyright law, like most systems, is built around authorship and protects original works created by an author. Purely machine-generated material, produced by typing a short prompt, does not sit comfortably within that framework. The position has not been settled by Pakistani courts, and internationally the trend has been to require meaningful human authorship.
The practical consequences for a business:
Output you cannot claim authorship in may be difficult to stop others copying. If your logo, character, jingle or key visual is purely generated, your ability to enforce it as a copyright work is uncertain.
Human contribution matters, and should be documented. Selection, arrangement, substantial editing, and creative direction — recorded through drafts, briefs and iterations — strengthen the position considerably.
Trade marks do not depend on authorship. Register the brand elements you need to own. This is the most reliable protection available for a generated logo or name. See trade mark registration.
Contracts can still allocate rights. Even where copyright is uncertain, the parties can agree who may use what, exclusively or otherwise, and can add confidentiality obligations. That is often the practical answer.
See copyright for creators and content businesses.
The infringement risk on the way in and the way out
Inputs. Uploading someone else's copyrighted work — a competitor's designs, a photographer's images, a book — to generate derivative material is a copyright risk that the tool does not absorb.
Outputs. Where output reproduces a substantial part of an existing work, the result may infringe regardless of how it was produced. The risks are highest when prompting in the style of a named living artist, or asking for something resembling a well-known character, logo or photograph.
Vendor indemnities. Some AI vendors indemnify commercial users against third-party IP claims arising from output, subject to conditions — using the enterprise tier, not disabling filters, and not deliberately prompting for infringing material. Where you rely on AI at scale, this is a real reason to be on the paid tier and to read the conditions. See using AI in your business.
Voice, face and name
Pakistan does not have a codified personality right, but using a real person's likeness or voice without consent engages several existing routes:
- Defamation, where the content conveys a false factual imputation. See what is actionable as defamation
- PECA offences, covering identity offences, impersonation and material affecting a person's modesty — the principal route against deepfakes. See online blackmail, fake accounts and content removal
- Passing off, where a false endorsement suggests a celebrity has approved a product
- Contract, where a performer's agreement governs the use of their recorded performance and does not extend to synthesising new ones
- Constitutional privacy and dignity arguments in appropriate cases
For anyone commissioning creative work, the practical requirement is consent:
Get releases. A model, performer or contributor release should now expressly address whether their voice, image or performance may be used to train a model or to generate new material, and for how long and in what media. Older releases do not cover this, and assuming they do is the mistake being made across the industry.
See media, entertainment and influencer contracts and sports and player contracts.
Advertising and disclosure
Two rules that keep businesses out of trouble:
Do not make claims you cannot substantiate, however the content was produced. A generated image of a product that does not look like the product is a misleading representation. See consumer protection claims and competition law and the CCP.
Disclose where it matters — synthetic endorsement, a generated "customer", or a recreated voice of a real person. Undisclosed synthetic testimonials are the clearest consumer-protection exposure in AI advertising.
Contracts: what agencies and clients should change
For agencies and production houses:
- Do not give an unqualified warranty of originality and non-infringement on AI-assisted work. Qualify it, or disclose the use and warrant compliance with the tool's terms
- Disclose AI use to the client, and get approval — many clients now prohibit or restrict it
- Keep records of human contribution
- Update your talent releases
For clients commissioning work:
- Say whether AI use is permitted, and if so where — concepts, drafts, final deliverables
- Require disclosure of what was generated
- Require the supplier to hold rights and consents, with an indemnity
- For assets you need to own and enforce, require demonstrable human authorship
See the contracts every business should have and software development and SaaS agreements.
Employees and contractors
Work created by employees should be assigned to the company by contract — and the contract should also say what AI tools may be used, on what material. Contractor work needs a written assignment; without one, the company may own nothing, and the AI question sits on top of that existing problem.
See employment contracts and setting up a software house.
If someone has used your likeness or your work
Move quickly:
- Preserve evidence — URLs, timestamps, the account, and the content itself
- Platform report — impersonation and non-consensual synthetic media are covered by every major platform's policies, and this is usually the fastest removal
- PECA complaint to the FIA where it is impersonation or a deepfake
- PTA complaint for blocking within Pakistan
- Civil proceedings for an injunction and damages where the person is identifiable and worth pursuing
See reporting online fraud and cybercrime and counterfeits and brand enforcement.
How the firm can help
We advise on ownership and protection of AI-assisted work, draft creative, production and talent agreements that address AI use, training and synthetic performance, review vendor terms and indemnities, and act where a client's work, brand, voice or likeness has been used without permission.
See intellectual property, or contact the firm.