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TL;DR
- A Safe rating screens image similarity. It does not provide legal clearance or prove consent or originality. Before designing, record where your reference images came from and whether you have permission to use them.
- Give your character distinctive features. For example, change a mascot’s silhouette and colors rather than copying a familiar one.
- Build the approved design once in OpenArt Characters so you can reuse its recognizable look across images and video.
- Screen generated images with OpenArt’s AI Copyright and IP Check. Review flagged matches, revise the design, and recheck it.
- Save your references, prompts, revisions, check reports, and final approval.
Why original character design carries IP and likeness risk
A generated character can resemble an existing mascot, fictional character, logo, or recognizable person even when you did not request the resemblance. For example, a new campaign mascot might share another brand’s distinctive costume and emblem. Reviewing the design before you reuse it helps you catch similarities that a prompt alone would not reveal.
Three kinds of risk call for different questions. Copyright concerns may arise if your design copies protected creative elements of an existing character or logo. Trademark concerns may arise if a name, emblem, or appearance could confuse people about which brand stands behind the character. A recognizable real person’s face raises separate consent and publicity-rights questions, especially in a commercial campaign. One similarity check cannot resolve all three.
Generating an image does not, by itself, establish copyright ownership or prove the design original. Under the U.S. Copyright Office’s human-authorship guidance, protection for AI-assisted work depends on the human creative contribution and requires case-by-case review. In Zarya of the Dawn, the Office recognized protection for the graphic novel’s human-authored elements, but not for its individual AI-generated images. Even a protectable contribution would not settle whether the resulting character resembles someone else’s work or likeness.
Step 1: Establish provenance and permission for reference images
Build your reference set from images whose source and permitted use you can verify. Before you use an image, record where it came from, who controls the photo, and whether your intended use fits the license or permission you received. Permission to use a photo does not automatically give you permission to base a character on an identifiable person in it.
For example, a marketing team could use a licensed stock photo to study a jacket’s texture if the license permits that use. An employee’s own photo could also be a starting point once you confirm the employee can authorize its use and, if the employee appears in it, agrees to the proposed depiction. A scraped photo of a public figure gives you neither verified image rights nor consent to use that person’s likeness. Leave it out of the reference set.
Keep the license, permission, and source link with each approved reference. You can then trace a design choice back to its source when someone reviews the character later.
Step 2: Make distinctive design choices instead of reproducing existing IP
Start an original character design with the character’s role, audience, and setting rather than an existing character you want to modify. A brief for a bakery mascot might call for a friendly guide who helps customers identify bread varieties. You can then choose its silhouette, proportions, colors, clothing, and name without using another mascot as the template.
Suppose the first draft has a round animal head, oversized white gloves, and a bright outfit that recalls a familiar brand mascot. Changing its hat would leave much of that visual pattern in place. Instead, you could draw a short, angular character shaped like a folded paper bag, with narrow arms and a cream-and-copper palette. An apron with an off-center pocket gives it a costume detail tied to the bakery. Choose a name that fits its own story rather than one that sounds like the established mascot’s name.
Review the design as a whole, since ordinary details can still form a recognizable combination. Distinctive choices reduce avoidable resemblance, but they cannot guarantee that a generated image is original or free of IP and likeness concerns. Screen the resulting images before committing the character to repeated use.
Step 3: Build the character once in OpenArt Characters
OpenArt Characters lets you save a character and reuse its recognizable look across images and video. Start with a reference image, a text prompt, or Character Builder presets. A reference image gives you the most control over the face and style, but the starting path does not replace a permission check.
Use a reference whose source and permitted use you can document, such as an illustration you commissioned with permission to reuse. If you start with a prompt or presets, keep the distinctive silhouette, colors, and costume details you chose in the previous step. Save the generated character to your library so you can reference it in later images and videos without describing its look each time. Review and screen the generated images before approving the character for repeated use.
Step 4: Screen generated images for similarity before reuse
Before you reuse a character across a series or campaign, screen several generated images of its proposed look. Check a clear view of the face and any image with a different outfit or pose. A jacket patch may resemble a logo in one image even if the other images show no obvious match.
Upload each image to OpenArt’s AI Copyright and IP Check and run the check. The tool, powered by CopySight, screens images for similarity to brands, logos, and well-known individuals. Safe indicates a lower-risk screening result, Warning calls for closer review, and Unsafe calls for revision or human review before reuse. The downloadable PDF shows similarity percentages for detected matches and marks the areas of concern. It may also identify an associated brand or reference.
Review the images yourself before you reuse the look in OpenArt Characters. The check covers images, not videos. It cannot verify consent for a reference photo, confirm originality, or assess every kind of copyright issue. A Safe rating is not legal clearance. For fuller background, read OpenArt’s explanation of AI image copyright.
Step 5: Revise and recheck after a Warning or Unsafe result
If an image receives a Warning or Unsafe rating, pause reuse of the character and inspect the flagged area in the OpenArt AI Copyright and IP Check PDF report. Note any named match and similarity percentage, then revise the part of the design that prompted the flag. Run the check again on the revised image before using the character in more scenes.
For example, a report might flag a mascot’s red-and-yellow badge as similar to a brand logo. Remove the badge and choose a different shape and color scheme rather than changing the background around it. If a stylized character’s face resembles a public figure, change the facial structure and other identifying features, then screen a new image. A cosmetic edit that leaves the recognizable likeness intact does not address the concern.
Send the character for human or legal review if flags persist after revision, the report shows high similarity percentages, or it names a specific brand or public figure. Seek review before a high-stakes commercial campaign, even if a revised image receives a Safe rating. An image similarity check cannot establish consent or legal clearance.
Keep a record: references, prompts, revisions, checks, and approvals
Keep a record for each approved character version so you can trace how you made it. Save each reference image with its source and license or written permission. Keep the prompts and model used to generate the design.
Save every revision and note why you made it. Attach each result and PDF report from OpenArt’s AI Copyright and IP Check to the image you screened. Record who reviewed the result, who approved the character, and when. A later edit may need its own review, so keep approvals tied to specific versions.
If a client asks why an agency approved a campaign mascot, you can show that its reference photo was licensed and that you removed a flagged chest emblem before the final check. The dated approval shows which version the agency cleared for the campaign.
FAQs
Does a Safe rating mean my character is legally cleared? No. OpenArt’s AI Copyright and IP Check screens images for similarities to brands, logos, and well-known people. A Safe rating does not establish legal clearance, consent, or originality.
Does the IP check verify consent to use a reference photo? No. You need to confirm that you have permission to use the photo before making it part of your character design. Keep the source and permission terms with your project records.
Does the IP check cover video? No. OpenArt describes the check as an image-screening tool. You can screen character images used in a video project, but that does not amount to a check of the finished video.
Can similar prompts produce different similarity results? Yes. The check evaluates each generated image, and similar prompts can produce different faces, costumes, or logos. Screen the actual images you plan to use.
When should I seek legal review instead of revising the design again? Ask a lawyer to review a character if repeated revisions still trigger flags, the report identifies a specific brand or public figure, or a planned commercial campaign depends on using the disputed design.
Conclusion
For a recurring series character or campaign mascot, treat original character design as an ongoing practice. Keep proof that you can use your references, choose distinctive features, and screen generated images for similarities. Save your prompts, revisions, check reports, and approvals so you can revisit the design as it changes. OpenArt Characters lets you reuse a recognizable look across images and video, making that work more useful as your series or campaign grows. Review new uses rather than relying on a single check.