Generative AI (genAI) tools are evolving quickly and their impact on teaching, learning and research is significant, posing both opportunities and challenges. The following resource addresses copyright considerations for faculty, librarians, staff, and students at the University of Toronto. If you have questions about copyright or need further support, please contact us.

The content of this page is evolving and subject to change. Last updated: December 15, 2025

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Are there copyright considerations I need to think about when using genAI tools?

Yes. There remains significant legal uncertainty with the use of Generative AI tools and copyright. This is an evolving area of law an policy and our understanding will develop as new policies, regulations, and case law become settled.

Input: The lawfulness of the use copyright-protected content in the training of AI models is a question currently being contested in courts and by policy-makers in many jurisdictions. There are numerous lawsuits of various kinds originating from the US and Canada that allege that the training of Generative AI tools infringes copyright, and it remains unclear if and to what extent the fair use or fail dealing doctrine can be applied in the context of AI model development. The Government of Canada has been consulting about AI since 2021,(footnote 1) and published a whitepaper and the results of its latest round of consultations on copyright and Generative AI in June 2024 with a goal of continuing fact-finding work to inform copyright policy.2
Output: Authorship and ownership of works generated by AI is also unclear and being contested in courts in many jurisdictions. Traditionally, Canadian law has held that an author must be a natural person (human) who exercises skill and judgement in the creation of a work, and that this authorship is a requirement for a work to have copyright protection.3 Given the varying degrees of human input in AI-generated works, it is unclear in Canada how it will be determined who the appropriate author and owner of works are, and whether the current framework may change. More recently, the US Copyright Office has published the following guide addressing these issues: Copyright Registration Guidance for Works Containing AI-Generated Materials
- The degree to which LLM-generated outputs directly infringe upon existing works has been a key factor in AI copyright litigation so far. As a result, many commercial GenAI tools have been "tuned" to avoid the substantial reproduction of works that were part of their training data.

If you would like to use genAI tools, consider the following before doing so:

Have an understanding that while you can use these tools to revise, enhance or create content, you may not own or hold copyright in the generated works that result from your use.
Be mindful of what you input into tools: never input confidential information or significant portions of intellectual property you do not have the rights or permissions to. All content entered may become part of the tool’s training dataset, may inadvertently resurface in response to other prompts, or may be stored as "machine learning solution data" that has many secondary uses
Regularly review the terms of service of each tool: These terms may dictate use and ownership of input/output and they are subject to change without notice
Be explicit in how you have used these tools in the creation of your work. Keep a record of prompts and any IP you have used in the generation of any output. Review attribution guidelines according to the style guide you are using (refer to the Citing Sources library guide). If you are publishing your work, review any requirements or policies that address the use of generative AI tools in your research. These policies will indicate whether AI can be used and how the use of these tools should be disclosed.
Experiment with the enterprise edition of Microsoft Copilot and other tools that have been vetted and are supported by the University of Toronto. Visit https://ai.utoronto.ca/ and navigate to "Tools and Training". Eligible students, staff, faculty and librarians at the University of Toronto have access to a protected enterprise edition of Microsoft Copilot. You must be logged into your U of T account to use this version: https://teaching.utoronto.ca/tool-guides/microsoft-copilot. U of T’s protected enterprise edition of Microsoft Copilot is different than other genAI tools for a few reasons:
- The protected enterprise edition of Microsoft Copilot has been evaluated by U of T’s Information Security team and is considered safe for use with up to level 3 data.
- Chat data is not saved, used to train models, or made available to Microsoft

Can I use full-text library licensed e-resources (such as journal articles or eBooks) in Generative AI tools like Chat GPT?

Generally, no. The library signs contracts with different vendors and publishers, which set out specific terms and conditions that users are responsible for complying with when accessing content. While what is permitted is not uniform across all resources, most agreements do not allow for the uploading of copyright protected works to third-party platforms, including genAI tools.

Consult UTL's How to use library licensed content resource for more information.

What material can I use in a Generative AI tool?

Consider using content that is openly licensed or in the public domain. The Creative Commons FAQs on AI and CC Licenses indicates that "if someone uses a CC-licensed work with any new or developing technology, and if copyright permission is required, then the CC license allows that use without the need to seek permission from the copyright owner so long as the license conditions are respected." Please refer to this Creative Commons resource for further guidance. You may also find the Internet Archive to be helpful for sourcing content.

If you would like assistance determining whether you can use content in Generative AI tools or would like access to larger quantities of textual data, please contact your liaison librarian for support with your request.

Are there other University of Toronto resources I can consult to learn more?

The following U of T resources address genAI in research, teaching and learning:

References

All content on this page is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Generative AI Tools and Copyright Considerations

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