Can I use Gemini images for commercial use?

Google's Terms of Service (effective 30 July 2026) say Google “won’t claim ownership” of content its services generate, but they give no express commercial licence and no express ban. Gemini-specific terms may add conditions, and Google's Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy bars violating others' rights. Read the terms that apply to your plan before commercial use.

Can I use Adobe Firefly images commercially?

Adobe's summary of section 17 of its General Terms of Use (3 October 2025) says Firefly can be used “to generate content for any other legal purpose”, and section 4.2 says users retain ownership of their content. Adobe says only the terms themselves are binding, not the summaries. Materials made with a trial or not-for-resale version must not be used for commercial purposes.

Can I use Bing Image Creator pictures for my business?

Microsoft's Bing Image Creator terms (updated March 2026) say Microsoft does not claim ownership of creations, and they neither grant nor bar commercial use in express words. The same terms say the service is “for entertainment purposes” and that Microsoft gives no warranty against third-party infringement, so a business takes on that risk.

Does a paid plan make an AI image copyright-protected?

No. A paid plan changes what the contract with the tool allows, not whether copyright exists. The US Copyright Office said in January 2025 that copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material, whatever the user paid for the tool.

Who is liable if an AI image infringes someone's rights?

The tool's terms often leave that risk with the user. The Microsoft Services Agreement (effective 30 September 2026) makes users solely responsible for third-party claims, and Microsoft's Copilot terms say the user indemnifies Microsoft for use or publication of responses. Other vendors' terms differ, and liability ultimately depends on the law of the country concerned.

Can I use AI-generated images for commercial use? 2026

Can I use AI-generated images for my business?

A business can usually use AI-generated images on its website, listings and ads when the tool's terms permit that use and the image breaks no other law. Three separate questions sit behind that answer: what the tool's contract allows, whether anyone holds copyright in the image, and whether the image infringes someone else's rights or misleads buyers.

The tool's terms answer the first. Copyright law answers the second, as the guide to who owns AI-generated images explains. Trademark, publicity and advertising law answer the third, and no tool's contract changes them.

This page reports what published terms and regulators say, by source and date; this is general information, not legal advice.

What can a tool's terms do, and what can they not do?

A tool's terms can give a user contractual permission to use an output and can state that the vendor claims no ownership. Those terms bind the vendor and the user, and nobody else.

Terms cannot create copyright. The US Copyright Office concluded in January 2025 that “Copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material”, so a vendor cannot hand over a right that may not exist. Stability AI's terms (effective 31 July 2025) show the limit in their own wording: they assign the company's rights “(if any)”. The Microsoft Services Agreement (effective 30 September 2026) tells users they will “need to make your own determination regarding the intellectual property rights you have in output content”.

Terms cannot clear third-party rights either. A licence from a tool does not bind a photographer, a brand or a person shown in the image. Microsoft's Copilot terms (effective 18 August 2026) say: “we can’t promise that any Copilot’s Responses won’t infringe someone else’s rights (like their copyrights, trademarks, or rights of privacy)”. The Microsoft Services Agreement makes the user “solely responsible for responding to any third-party claims”. Some vendors may offer indemnities on certain plans; those were not reviewed here.

What do AI image tools' terms say about commercial use?

AI image tools' terms differ, and most say more about ownership than about commercial use. Each row below was read on the vendor's own page on 31 October 2026. The quotes are the vendor's words; the last column is Herofab's reading, not the vendor's.

Tool and document	Version and date read	Quoted basis	What the wording settles
Google services: Google Terms of Service	Effective 30 July 2026; read 31 October 2026	“Some of our services allow you to generate original content. Google won’t claim ownership over that content.”	Ownership between Google and the user. No express commercial licence and no express ban. The same terms bar “misleading others into thinking that generative AI content was created by a human”. Service-specific terms may add conditions.
Gemini API and Google AI Studio: Additional Terms of Service	Effective 23 March 2026; read 31 October 2026	“Google won't claim ownership over that content. You acknowledge that Google may generate the same or similar content for others”	No exclusivity. The user is “responsible for your use of generated content”.
Adobe Firefly and generative AI tools: General Terms of Use	Effective 3 October 2025; read 31 October 2026	Adobe's summary of section 17: “you can use Firefly and our generative AI tools to generate content for any other legal purpose.” Section 4.2: “As between you and Adobe, you … retain all rights and ownership of your Content.”	The broadest wording here, but Adobe says only the terms themselves, not the summaries, are binding. Its Generative AI User Guidelines (15 May 2026) prohibit content that “violates third-party copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights”.
Microsoft Bing Image Creator: Terms of Use	Updated March 2026; read 31 October 2026	“Microsoft does not claim ownership of Prompts, Creations, customizations, instructions, or any other content”. “The Online Services are for entertainment purposes”.	Neither grants nor bars commercial use in express words. Microsoft gives no warranty that output “does not infringe the rights of any third party” and says “Creations may not be unique across users”.
Microsoft Copilot (consumer): Supplemental Terms of Use	Effective 18 August 2026; read 31 October 2026	“You can only use Copilot for your own personal use.” “We don’t own Your Content”.	A business should not assume these terms cover its use. They do not apply to work or school (Entra) accounts, whose terms were not read here.
Stability AI: Terms of Service	Effective 31 July 2025; read 31 October 2026	“we assign to you all of our right, title, and interest (if any) in the Outputs”. “you own the Output (to the extent permitted by applicable law)”.	A transfer of whatever rights exist, which may be none. “multiple users might get similar results”.
Herofab	Site FAQ; read 31 October 2026	“Herofab does not claim ownership of the images it generates for you, and they may be used for any lawful purpose, including commercially.”	“Depending on the law of your country, AI-generated images may not be protected by copyright, so Herofab cannot promise exclusive rights in them.” Every delivered image carries the IPTC marker for AI-generated media inside the file.

Why are ChatGPT, Canva and Midjourney not in the table?

ChatGPT, Canva and Midjourney are not in the table because the terms pages of OpenAI, Canva and Midjourney refused Herofab's automated reader on 31 October 2026, as did those of xAI (Grok) and Leonardo.ai. This page therefore makes no statement about them. Their absence says nothing about what those terms allow. Read the current terms on each vendor's site, for your plan, before commercial use.

Which free AI image generators allow commercial use?

No single answer covers free AI image generators, because permission depends on the tool, the plan and sometimes the access route, so a free tier has to be checked separately from the paid one.

Adobe's General Terms of Use (3 October 2025) say that for a version designated “trial”, “evaluation” or “not for resale”, “You must not use any materials you produce with the NFR Version for any commercial purposes”. Microsoft's consumer Copilot terms (18 August 2026) limit use to “your own personal use”.

Secondary guides disagree on whether the free Gemini app can be used commercially. The Google Terms of Service read on 31 October 2026 do not separate free from paid use on that point, and Gemini-specific terms may add conditions. Google's Gemini API terms raise a different issue: on unpaid access, Google uses submitted content to improve its products, human reviewers may read it, and the terms say “Do not submit sensitive, confidential, or personal information to the Unpaid Services”. That matters for photographs of unreleased products.

Herofab gives 20 free credits at sign-up with no card, and images made with free credits carry a watermark.

Can I use AI images on my website and in ads?

AI images can go on a website and into ads when the tool's terms allow it, but advertising adds rules that a tool's licence does not cover.

New York General Business Law section 396-b, in effect since 9 June 2026, requires conspicuous disclosure of synthetic performers in advertising. Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies from 2 August 2026, according to the European Commission; providers of systems already on the market have until 2 December 2026 for machine-readable marking. The guide to AI models for clothing brands covers both. Marketplace and Google Merchant Center marking rules are in the 2026 rules guide.

Tool terms also protect the marking itself. Adobe's Guidelines say “You must not remove, alter, or disable any Content Credentials”, and Microsoft's Bing Image Creator terms bar removing or altering “content credentials or other provenance methods”. An editor or resizer that strips those marks can create a problem the original file did not have.

Check whether a file still carries its AI label

When is the answer no?

The answer is no, whatever the terms say, when an AI image reproduces someone else's protected material. A third party's logo, character or copied photograph stays protected in an AI output, and the tools quoted above leave that risk with the user.

The answer is also no when the image shows a real, recognisable person without consent, or when it misrepresents the product. Herofab's own measurement of 303 judged outputs flagged 20.8%, including 9.6% for invented detail and 4.0% for showing a different product, so every commercial image needs a check against the real item. The check covered images made between 24 September and 12 October 2026, before Herofab's late-October image engine change.

AI is the wrong method when exclusivity is the point. A logo, a signature print or a campaign image that competitors must not reuse is better commissioned from a designer or photographer under a written assignment. Several terms above warn that other users may receive the same or similar output.

Create an image around your own product photo

Checklist

Read the terms for your exact plan and access route, and save a dated copy.
Confirm the plan is not a trial, personal-use or non-commercial tier.
Check the image at full size for logos, characters, text and faces that resemble a real person.
Compare the product in the image with the item that ships.
Keep the file's AI metadata and Content Credentials intact.
Do not promise exclusive rights in a purely AI-generated image.
Check each channel's disclosure rules in the 2026 rules guide before publishing.

Sources

Checked 31 October 2026. Rules change; the official pages are the final reference.

Can I use AI-generated images for commercial use?