📊 Full Comparison Table
Two different questions
Platform terms and U.S. copyright protection are different questions. Commercial latitude depends on your plan tier, the operative TOS at the time of use, and your downstream client and customer contracts. For your specific use case, get a written memo.
| Feature |
🟣
Claude
|
🟢
ChatGPT
|
🎨
Midjourney
|
💻
Copilot
|
🔍
Perplexity
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output Ownership | ✓ AssignedAssigned to you | ✓ AssignedExplicit assignment | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = MJ owns | ✓ AssignedYour code | ✓ AssignedAssigned to you |
| Commercial Use | ✓ AllowedAll plans | ✓ AllowedAll plans | ⚠️ Paid only$1M+ needs Pro | ✓ AllowedBusiness/Enterprise | ✓ AllowedAll plans |
| Free Tier Commercial | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ NoCC BY-NC only | ⚠️ Individual only | ✓ Yes |
| Training Data Opt-Out | ⚠️ Opt-out requiredConsumer trains by default since Sep 2025; Commercial/API excluded | ⚠️ Team/EnterpriseConsumer: limited | ⚠️ Pro/MegaStealth mode | ✓ Business plans | ⚠️ Varies |
| Output Exclusivity | ✗ Non-exclusiveSimilar outputs possible | ✗ Non-exclusiveOthers may get same | ✗ Non-exclusivePublic by default | ✗ Non-exclusiveCommon patterns | ✗ Non-exclusiveSearch-based |
| Copyright Status | ⚠️ UncertainNeeds human authorship | ⚠️ UncertainNeeds human authorship | ⚠️ UncertainUSCO denied registration | ⚠️ UncertainVaries by modification | ⚠️ UncertainNeeds human authorship |
| Platform License | ⚠️ Service improvement | ⚠️ Training by default | ⚠️ Broad license | ✓ Minimal | ⚠️ Service use |
| API Terms Different | ✓ YesBetter protections | ✓ YesNo training default | N/ANo public API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Enterprise Custom Terms | ✓ Available | ✓ Available | ✗ No | ✓ Available | ✓ Available |
| Output Type | Text, Code | Text, Code, Images | Images only | Code only | Text (search synthesis) |
Image, Video & Audio AI Platforms
| Feature |
🖼️
DALL-E 3
|
🌊
Stable Diff
|
🖌️
Leonardo
|
🎨
Canva AI
|
🔵
Gemini
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output Ownership | ✓ AssignedAll tiers | ✓ AssignedOpen source | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = Leonardo owns | ✓ AssignedAll tiers | ✓ AssignedAll tiers |
| Commercial Use | ✓ All tiersIncluding free | ✓ AllowedSD 3: $1M threshold | ⚠️ Paid onlyApprentice+ | ✓ All tiersIncluding free | ✓ All tiersIncluding free |
| Free Tier Commercial | ✓ Yes | ✓ YesSelf-hosted | ✗ NoLeonardo retains IP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Training Opt-Out | ⚠️ Team/EnterpriseConsumer trains | ✓ Self-hostedFull control | ⚠️ Private contentOnly private excluded | ⚠️ EnterpriseShield plan | ⚠️ Vertex AIFree trains by default |
| IP Indemnification | ⚠️ EnterpriseCopyright Shield | ✗ NoOpen source risk | ✗ No | ⚠️ EnterpriseCanva Shield 100+ | ✓ Vertex AIDuet AI indemnity |
| Output Type | Images | Images | Images, 3D | Images, Design | Text, Code, Images |
Video & Audio AI Platforms
| Feature |
🎬
Pika
|
🎬
Runway
|
🎵
Suno
|
🎤
ElevenLabs
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output Ownership | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = Pika owns | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = non-commercial | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = Suno license | ⚠️ Paid onlyFree = attribution req |
| Commercial Use | ⚠️ Standard+$8/mo minimum | ⚠️ Standard+$12/mo minimum | ⚠️ Pro+$10/mo minimum | ⚠️ Starter+$5/mo minimum |
| Free Tier Commercial | ✗ NoNon-commercial only | ✗ NoNon-commercial only | ✗ NoPersonal use only | ✗ NoAttribution required |
| Training Opt-Out | ✗ NoPika trains on all | ⚠️ Enterprise only | ✗ NoBroad training license | ⚠️ EnterpriseVoice data retained |
| Watermark/Attribution | ⚠️ Free onlyPaid removes | ⚠️ C2PA embeddedContent provenance | ✗ None | ⚠️ Free only"Made with ElevenLabs" |
| Output Type | Video | Video, Image | Music, Audio | Voice, Audio |
Free-tier trap
Midjourney is the only major platform where free users DON'T own their outputs. If you've created images during a free trial and want to use them commercially, you must upgrade. Leonardo, Pika, Runway, Suno, and ElevenLabs also restrict or condition free-tier commercial use.
Key Insights
Both OpenAI and Anthropic explicitly assign output ownership to users with clear commercial rights. The language is straightforward: you own what the AI creates in response to your prompts.
Midjourney is the only major platform where free users DON'T own their outputs. If you've created images during a free trial and want to use them commercially, you must upgrade.
Across ALL platforms, traditional copyright protection is questionable. The US Copyright Office has indicated AI outputs without "sufficient human authorship" aren't copyrightable.
For confidential work, check training data policies. ChatGPT Enterprise/Team and Anthropic's Commercial/API tiers are not used for training by default; consumer Claude Free/Pro/Max now train on your chats unless you opt out.
The Bottom Line
All major AI platforms now give users ownership of outputs, but the details matter. Free tiers have limitations, copyright protection is uncertain, and platforms retain licenses to use your content in various ways.
Confidential work
For confidential work, check training data policies. ChatGPT Enterprise/Team and Anthropic's Commercial/API tiers are not used for training by default; consumer Claude Free/Pro/Max now train on your chats unless you opt out.
📚 Detailed Platform Guides
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