AI-Generated Content and Copyright in Türkiye

A large share of marketing images, product copy, code and audio is now produced with AI tools. The legal position is unsettled, but Turkish law offers a clear starting point: the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works ties authorship to the natural person who created the work.

Output that may belong to no one

If a result is produced entirely by a system without creative human contribution, identifying an author becomes difficult — and without an author there is no copyright. For companies this means there may be no strong copyright route against a competitor reusing your AI-generated campaign image. Trademark, design registration and unfair competition partially fill the gap.

Where human contribution begins

The distinction that matters is between output generated by AI and output generated with AI. Where a person directs, selects, edits and combines results, adding their own imprint, the outcome can qualify as a work. Output produced by a single prompt and used unchanged is much harder to defend. Document the process: prompt history, intermediate versions and editing records are the evidence.

The input side

Equally important is whether producing the output infringed someone else’s rights — feeding third-party text, images or code into a model, or generating output that closely resembles an existing work. Recognisable brands or characters in the output raise separate trademark issues.

Practical framework

Read the tool’s terms: they govern rights in the output and commercial use before any statute does.
Document human contribution.
Do not leave permanent assets — logos, packaging, brand identity — to AI alone; register them.
Add AI-use disclosure and rights-transfer undertakings to agency and employment contracts.
Set internal rules on what may be fed into third-party tools.

See our guides to trademark registration and design protection, or contact us.

General information only, not legal advice. The legal framework in this area continues to develop.