Navigating In The Era Of AI-Powered Game Production: A guide for safe authorship with Layer

Layer is the leading AI-powered tool for 2D content generation for games. Artists using Layer can train custom AI models using their own art work in their private workspaces, create novel concepts and variations, refine images using a best in class canvas, and easily export assets into other tools in their toolset like Photoshop and Unity (read more about our partnership with Unity here).

Numerous game art teams have onboarded onto Layer, integrated it into their game production pipelines, and love the productivity and creativity they’ve unlocked. Some of the top game art teams in the world that adopted Layer not only became 3x faster, but also expanded their creativity.

While AI opens up this realm of possibilities for gaming, it also raises important questions about intellectual property protection. Since the very beginning, we at Layer have been advocating for the ethical use of AI, both through our product’s design as well as through our conversations with our users and industry leaders. We are committed to ensuring that AI becomes a tool that gives artists superpowers while minimizing harm to artists’ work. To that end, we’re making sure:

(1) Our team and platform is equipped with the most up to date legal knowledge to be able to educate all game creators in best practices.

(2) Our roadmap ensures both the safeguarding of intellectual property rights and the avoidance of unintentional infringements.

As a first step, we are releasing this guide to help art teams of all sizes navigate the nuanced landscape of AI-generated content, providing practical insights and step-by-step tips to foster a creative environment that is not only boundless but also legally sound. We delve into the intricacies of ownership, copyright considerations, and the delicate balance between unleashing your creative potential and respecting the intellectual property of others. Let’s get started!

Do I own the copyrights to the assets that I produce using Layer?

As between you and us, you own the assets you create with Layer as long as you comply with the rules stated in our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy, as updated by Layer from time to time.

There are some countries, including the US, that do not consider AI-generated content to be copyrightable unless there is a significant degree of human involvement in its creative process and creative control. In these countries, we believe AI used as a productivity tool, with a significant degree of artist guidance and editing to get to the final product, can still be copyrightable, analogous to how art generated with digital editing tools (like Photoshop) are still copyrightable.

Could my use of Layer infringe upon the intellectual property of a third party?

Layer uses the Stable Diffusion 2.1 and Stable Diffusion XL foundation models by default. However, our product is built to allow users to pick other foundation models. While we fine-tune the models using our customers’ assets within their private workspace, risks associated with dealing with these foundation models remain. One such risk stems from the fact that most foundation models use copyrighted materials to train the model. While these models do create their images based on your prompt, it is still possible that they will generate content that may infringe third parties’ IP rights, such as copyrighted images or trademarks. This might bring about claims of IP infringement, particularly if the generated content closely resembles existing protected works.

The purpose of this guide is to give you tips to mitigate such risks when working with Layer, with as little restriction on your creativity as possible.

How to secure my own intellectual property rights using Layer and avoid infringing someone else’s, step-by-step:

1. While creating your Style

One of the biggest advantages of Layer is that you can generate using your custom-trained Style. By doing so, you increase the likelihood that your final work be considered as copyrightable and decrease the likelihood that you will generate content that resembles existing works.

• Do not train the system using source images that you do not own or have a right to use (also for the sole purpose of training), regardless of whether it is a character, background, or even a UI element. That’s the basic rule.
• We encourage you to always train your own Styles. As you are getting started, using our starter styles which are specified as ‘By Layer’ in compliance with our guidelines and rules does not put you at risk, creating your own custom Style could increase the likelihood of obtaining copyright protection.
• Layer team is committed to finding and bringing top performing third party AI models in other words open-source styles such as Dalle-3, SDXL and potentially others in the future. We advise you to use these models only for conception as there are still ongoing debates going on about their own stance on copyright. We recommend reviewing their respective license terms to get informed.

2. While forging your creations

In the process of sketching, writing prompts and editing the image, please keep in mind the following principles.

• Do not write prompts for a specific artist’s art style or art piece if he/she is still alive or died less than 70 years ago.
• Do not generate images of copyrighted characters. For example, “Timon and Pumbaa sitting at the beach.”
• Do not generate images that include trademarks, company names or brands (i.e., McDonalds).
• Do not generate images of famous people, living or dead (less than a century ago). For instance, “Michael Jackson dancing in the streets of New York City.”
• Edit the generated output image on Layer’s canvas as much as you can and try to avoid using the generated image as-is. The more alteration done on core components (i.e., character face) rather than peripheral ones (changing its shoe color), the better.

3. Final asset valuation

Look before you leap.

• Lookout for trademarks, even if they are implied. For example, while creating a football pitch with players, make sure there are no real ads on the side and that the players are not wearing jerseys that resemble well-known football team jerseys.
• Try brainstorming with someone to ascertain if the image reminds them of a certain character, piece of art, etc., or perform a reverse image search.

This guide is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information in this guide is based on general principles of law and may not reflect the current legal situation in your jurisdiction. The author and publisher of this guide disclaim any and all liability arising from the use or misuse of this guide. You should consult a qualified legal professional before taking any action based on this guide.