Can I use AI images on my business website, and who is liable?
In short
Yes, you can use AI images on your business website in Germany, but whoever publishes them is liable. Purely machine made images are usually not protected by copyright, yet they can copy someone else's photo, logo or real face. For five stock photos used without a licence, around EUR 19,000 was demanded in 2025. Realistic deepfakes must be labelled since 2 August 2026.
What a mistake with image rights can cost and what matching liability cover costs in Germany.
Example
Typical range
Demand for five stock photos used on a website without a licence (2025)
around EUR 18,989 including licence damages, interest and legal fees
Media liability, small marketing agency under EUR 50,000 turnover, EUR 300,000 financial loss cover
around EUR 409 a year, gross
IT liability, freelancer with EUR 75,000 to 100,000 turnover, EUR 1 million cover, with data protection module
around EUR 699 a year, gross
Fine for breaching Art. 50 of the AI Act
up to EUR 15 million or 3 percent of worldwide turnover
Premiums from published sample calculations of a specialist insurer,
demand from a documented warning letter case, as of October 2026.
Whether AI generated content is expressly included depends on the policy wording.
The calculation in the example is a guide value from quoting practice.
Worked example
Small agency, AI image too close to a press photo
An agency creates a cover image for a client that closely resembles a well known press photo. The rights holder sends a warning letter (Abmahnung).
Demand per image in the comparison case (EUR 18,989 for five images)
around EUR 3,800
Your own lawyer to review the claim
guide value from quoting practice: a few hundred euros
Annual media liability premium
around EUR 409
One single case can cost several years of premiums. With matching cover the insurer checks the demand and pays the justified part, minus any agreed excess.
What German law allows for AI images on a website
Creating an AI image and showing it on your own business website is not prohibited. First check the tool's terms of use: some providers only allow commercial use on paid plans.
The German Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz) protects only personal intellectual creations of a human. An image made by the machine alone is therefore usually not protected. The downside: a competitor can generally reuse your AI image and you can do little about it.
When an AI image still infringes rights
The risk starts when the result comes too close to a protected photo, a character, a logo or a real person. Then whoever shows the image on the website is liable. Under section 97 UrhG you face a cease and desist claim and, if you acted negligently, damages, usually calculated as the licence fee you would have paid for permission.
Prompts such as "in the style of" plus the name of a living photographer or a brand raise the risk. Faces of real people, for example an AI photo showing a celebrity, also touch their personality rights.
AI image on the business website
Risk
Abstract graphic or generic illustration
low
Photorealistic scene without real people
low to medium, check labelling
Image in the style of a known artist or with a third party logo
high
Invented team or customer photo that looks real
high, labelling and misleading advertising
Face of a real person without consent
very high
Labelling under the EU AI Act
Since 2 August 2026 the transparency rules of Art. 50 of the AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, apply. If you use an AI system to create images that resemble real people, places or events and would falsely appear authentic, you must disclose that they are artificially generated.
Evidently artistic, satirical or fictional works face a lighter duty. A drawn illustration usually falls outside the rule, a deceptively real photo of your supposed workshop does not. According to legal commentary, older images do not have to be labelled retroactively.
Which insurance pays for AI image claims
Copyright infringements are pure financial losses. General business liability insurance (Betriebshaftpflicht) is built mainly for bodily injury and property damage and usually does not help here. A media or financial loss liability policy that expressly includes copyright, trademark and personality rights checks the claim, defends unfounded demands and pays justified damages.
Fines for missing labels are generally not insurable. Norman Nammert acts as an insurance broker and can check whether your existing policy includes copyright claims.
When you do not need extra cover
If you only use a few abstract AI graphics you made yourself, show no people and do not create content for clients, your risk from AI images is small. Clean prompts, a look at the tool's terms and a label when in doubt are enough. Agencies, online shops and anyone producing images for others should review their cover.
Step by step
Check the AI tool's terms for commercial use.
Keep names of living artists, photographers and brands out of your prompts.
Compare finished images with known photos using a reverse image search.
Label deceptively real images clearly as AI generated.
Record prompt, date and tool for each image to prove its origin later.
Have your liability policy checked for copyright cover.
Checklist
Commercial use allowed by the tool
No real faces without consent
No third party logos, characters or artist styles in prompts
Deepfakes labelled
Origin of every image documented
Financial loss liability with copyright cover if you create images for clients
Common mistakes
Assuming AI images are automatically free of third party rights
Passing off an invented team photo as real
Relying on general business liability, which usually excludes pure financial losses
Signing a cease and desist declaration unchecked or missing the deadline
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Do I have to label every AI image on my business website?
No.
Labelling is required for deepfakes, meaning images that show real people,
places or events in a deceptively real way.
A clearly drawn illustration is usually not covered.
Do I own an AI image I generated?
Usually no copyright arises because a human did not create it.
You may use it, but you can hardly stop others from using it.
Is the AI tool liable if the image infringes rights?
Towards the rights holder you are liable as the website operator.
Whether you can claim against the tool provider depends on its terms, and many exclude this.
What should I do after a warning letter about an AI image?
Remove the image completely, note the deadline,
sign nothing unchecked and have the claim reviewed by a lawyer or your liability insurer.
Does cyber insurance cover copyright claims?
Some cyber policies include a media liability module, many do not.
Check whether copyright and personality rights are named in the wording.
