AI image generators make it tempting to fill a PLR pack with fresh illustrations, cover art, clip art or social graphics. Before you add them to something you sell with resale or private label rights, though, there are three questions to answer: What do the tool’s terms let you do with the images? Can you pass rights on to buyers? And can anyone actually own the images in the first place?
This guide walks through what four popular tools say in their own terms and help pages as of October 2026, then turns that into a practical checklist for PLR sellers. It is general information, not legal advice. Terms change, so check the current version before you rely on any of it.
Why PLR makes AI images trickier
Using an AI image on your own blog is one thing. A PLR pack is different, because you are not just using the image. You are handing it to buyers and telling them what they may do with it: edit it, put their name on it, maybe resell it. That means you need to be confident you have the rights you are passing on, and you need to describe them honestly.
There is also a copyright wrinkle. In the United States, the Copyright Office has said it registers only material created by humans. Its 2023 registration guidance asks applicants to disclose AI-generated content that is more than minimal and exclude it from their claim, while human selection, arrangement and editing can still be protected. We cover that in more depth in our guide to AI-generated content and copyright. For PLR, the practical upshot is that a purely AI-generated image may not be something you can stop others from copying, even if the tool’s terms say you “own” it.
What the major tools say
Midjourney
Midjourney’s Terms of Service (effective May 27, 2026) say you own the assets you create “to the fullest extent possible under applicable law,” subject to the agreement and third-party rights. Ownership continues if you later downgrade or cancel. There is one important exception: if you are a company, or work for one, with more than $1 million in annual revenue, you must be on the Pro or Mega plan to own your assets.
Two other points matter for PLR sellers:
- Images are public by default. The terms state that your content is publicly viewable and remixable by default. Pro and Mega subscribers can use Stealth mode, where Midjourney says it will make “best efforts” not to publish your assets. Images made in shared spaces such as Discord channels are still visible to others.
- Midjourney gets a broad license too. You grant Midjourney a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable license to reproduce, adapt and distribute your prompts and outputs. So you are not the only party with rights to those images.
The terms also say you may not use automated tools to generate assets or resell access to the service itself. Selling images you made is a different thing from reselling the service, but bulk-generating images with scripts would break the rules.
OpenAI (ChatGPT image generation)
OpenAI’s Terms of Use (effective January 1, 2026) say you keep your rights in your input and own the output, and OpenAI assigns to you whatever rights it has in that output. The same section warns that output “may not be unique” and that other users may receive similar output, and the assignment does not cover other users’ output.
The terms also prohibit representing output as human-generated when it was not. For a PLR seller, that is a clear signal: don’t describe AI images in your pack as hand-drawn or “original artwork by our designer” if they were generated.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe’s Generative AI Additional Terms say the input and output are your content and that you are solely responsible for how you use the output. They add that the output “may not be protectable” by intellectual property rights, and they tell you not to remove or alter watermarks or Content Authenticity Initiative metadata (Content Credentials) attached to outputs.
Firefly now also offers models from other companies. Adobe’s partner models page says it is the creator’s responsibility to decide whether a partner model is appropriate for a project, weighing how it was trained and its commercial suitability. If you make images for a PLR pack inside Firefly, note which model produced each one, and read that model’s terms rather than assuming Adobe’s apply.
Ideogram
Ideogram is popular for images with readable text, which suits covers and social graphics. Its FAQ does not spell out ownership. Instead, it says commercial use “depends on Ideogram’s Terms of Service” and asks you to read them first. The FAQ does make visibility clear: on the free plan and the legacy Basic plan, generated images are public. On Plus ($20 a month), Pro ($60 a month) and Team plans, new images stay unpublished unless you share them. PNG downloads also require a paid plan.
The common thread
None of these tools promises that your images are unique, exclusive or legally protected. Most give you whatever rights they can, then put the responsibility on you. Several make images public by default on lower plans. For a PLR seller, that leads to a few sensible conclusions:
- You can generally use AI images commercially under these terms, but you can’t promise buyers exclusivity.
- Public-by-default images may appear in community galleries, where others can see them and, on Midjourney, remix them.
- If an image is purely AI-generated, you may have little ability to stop copying, which affects how much value a “PLR rights” label adds.
A checklist before you add AI images to a PLR pack
1. Save the terms you relied on
Download or screenshot the tool’s terms and your plan details on the day you generate the images. Add them to your license records. If you keep a PLR license log, this fits there neatly.
2. Use a plan that fits commercial work
Check revenue thresholds (Midjourney’s $1 million rule), private-generation options and download formats. A plan that keeps images private by default is a better fit if you are selling them.
3. Avoid other people’s rights
Don’t prompt for real people, brand logos, famous characters or a living artist’s distinctive style. Every tool above makes you responsible for third-party rights, and a PLR buyer who gets a complaint will come back to you.
4. Add real human work
Edit, crop, recolor, combine images into layouts and add your own design elements. Human selection, arrangement and editing are where protectable creativity is more likely to sit, and they also make your pack more useful than raw generator output.
5. Say clearly what’s AI-made
State in your product description and license file which images were created with AI tools. This keeps you in line with terms like OpenAI’s, and it helps buyers who must disclose AI content elsewhere. Amazon KDP, for example, asks publishers to tell it about AI-generated images when they publish a book, so a buyer using your cover art there needs to know.
6. Write the license honestly
Instead of “exclusive artwork,” say something like: “Images were created with AI tools and edited by us. We grant you the rights we hold; we can’t guarantee exclusivity or copyright protection for AI-generated elements.” Then list what buyers may and may not do. Keep Content Credentials intact where a tool attaches them.
7. Recheck before every new pack
Midjourney’s terms changed in 2026, OpenAI’s took effect at the start of the year and Adobe added third-party models to Firefly. A quick review before each release keeps your license statements accurate.
The bottom line
AI images can work well in PLR products, especially as starting points you edit and arrange yourself. The risk comes from overpromising: claiming exclusivity, originality or rights the tools don’t give you. Read the terms for the plan you actually use, keep records and tell buyers plainly what they are getting.
Sources
- Midjourney: Terms of Service
- OpenAI: Terms of Use
- Adobe: Generative AI Additional Terms
- Adobe: Partner models in Firefly
- Ideogram Docs: Frequently Asked Questions
- Jenner & Block: Copyright Registration for Works Containing AI-Generated Material
- Amazon KDP: Content Guidelines
Featured image: Photo: StockSnap (CC0)