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Who Owns What AI Writes for Your Business? What to Check Before You Publish

Season #1

You paste a client's notes into a free AI tool, or publish a post an AI wrote in 30 seconds, and a reader says, "This looks familiar." Attorney Tamsen Horton explains why AI is a product with terms (not a private conversation) and the five-piece fire extinguisher to build before AI use creates an IP mess.

Show notes:

AI feels like a private conversation. It isn't. It's a product, made by a company, with terms of service, and those terms decide what happens to what you type in and who owns what comes out. In Fire Drill 21, Before AI Use Creates an IP Mess, attorney Tamsen Horton walks through the three fires under AI use (ownership, infringement and confidentiality) and the simple rule she uses herself.

The Alarm

  • You pasted a client's information, a contract or an unreleased launch into an AI tool and never checked what happens to it
  • You published AI-generated content everywhere and assume you own every word
  • Someone copies your AI-made workbook and you learn you may not have the protection you thought you had

The DRILL

  • D: Don't react. Don't assume. In the U.S., work made entirely by AI with no meaningful human contribution generally can't be copyrighted; your own writing, edits and stories can be (a snapshot, this area moves fast)
  • R: Record everything. A list of every AI tool in your business, including your team's and the AI note-taker on your calls, and the plan you're on, with a paper copy
  • I: Identify the real risk. Ownership, infringement, confidentiality. If it could bring down lives, finances or your business, don't put it into AI
  • L: Lead with calm. A short AI rule for you, your team, your contractors and your clients
  • L: Lock in the lesson. Put the rule in your client agreements, purchase terms and contractor agreements, and check it every few months

The Fire Extinguisher

  1. For every AI tool, find three answers in its terms: who owns the output, what happens to what you type in, and who is responsible if something goes wrong
  2. A list of every AI tool and plan, with a paper copy
  3. Sort your AI use into the three buckets: ownership, infringement, confidentiality
  4. A short AI rule for you, your team, your contractors and your clients
  5. The rule written into your documents and reviewed every few months

If it's already burning: don't panic-delete and don't panic-post, figure out what went into each tool, hold anything you suspect echoes someone else's work, and get an attorney's eyes on it before you say anything publicly if client information is involved.

Your Next Right Decision

Do nothing, put the drill in place (even tools you don't think of as AI, like Notion or Kajabi, have AI built in), or send this episode to a friend who uses AI all day. Want more? Leave a comment and tell me which part to go deeper on: the copyright piece, what to put in your AI rules, or what to say to a client.

Resources and Links

Business moments are predictable. Panic is optional. Run this drill in full inside Business Fire Drills, Drill 21: Before AI Use Creates an IP Mess.

β†’ tamsenhorton.com/business-fire-drills

Kajabi podcast episode: Episode 22 on Kajabi