Prompts to AI Isn't Protected by Copyright: Case Dismissed

Giving instructions to a computer program does not grant you exclusive rights to generic internet memes.

A court in Moscow, Russia rejected a copyright claim on a neural network-generated images based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the Statue of Liberty, saying that their generation is not creative work, but a technical process, reported RIA Novosti. The decision, handed down on August 02, 2026, sets a clear legal precedent for AI art in Russia. 

The plaintiff claimed that by processing a reproduction of da Vinci’s masterpiece and a photo of the Statue of Liberty in a neural network, he created the art objects Mona Lisa with Wine and Statue of Liberty with Wine, which the defendant used on T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and thermal mugs, which he sold on his website. 

The plaintiff asked the court to order compensation from the individual entrepreneur for violating the author’s exclusive rights to the design works. 

The defendant denied the claim, arguing that the plaintiff’s use of images with minor modifications to the original works was insufficient to qualify the resulting images as creative work and therefore not protected by copyright. 

The plaintiff insisted in court that he had purchased photographs to create the works, in which he replaced the Statue of Liberty’s torch with a wine glass and added a background to the image. He also altered the position of the Mona Lisa’s hand, the mouth, and the contours of her face, increased the volume of her hair and tousled it, added bags under her eyes and applied patches, and placed a wine glass in her hand with painted nails, according to the court filings. 

The court noted that the disputed images had been created by artificial intelligence (AI), and since it lacked consciousness, it could not be said that the AI exerted creative effort. 

According to the court, the idea of tousled hair, a puffy face, a glass of wine in hand, and the replacement of the Statue of Liberty’s torch with a glass of wine are not new and are often used in art and media. 

“The objects presented by the plaintiff cannot be independent objects of copyright protection, since giving prompts to artificial intelligence are simple mechanical actions and are purely technical in nature. In this case, giving commands to a computer programme to apply an existing idea (repeatedly implemented) to a previously existing work cannot be considered a creative contribution. His contribution is limited to clarifying the commands, which is not considered creative”, the court stated. 

And so, Presnensky District Court dismissed the plaintiff’s copyright claim.

As seen in the examples below, these types of edits are incredibly common across the Internet!

Clever Mash-ups Become Pop Culture Crossovers

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What makes his work stand out is the attention to detail. Norrobey does more than simply drop a modern figure into an old painting or a famous movie still. He carefully matches lighting, colors, textures, poses, and atmosphere, allowing characters like the Joker, Batman, Tyler Durden, or Django to slip into completely different visual worlds without breaking the illusion. His images play with nostalgia while also giving well-known artworks and pop culture moments a fresh twist.

Animals And Places Reimagined As Human Characters

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Inspired by a memory game called “Do You Look Like Your Dog?” and “Do You Look Like Your Cat?” by photographer Gerrard Gethings, she began exploring this concept in her own novel way. 

In this selection of illustrations, you’ll find some of Connie’s most recent animal-inspired illustrations, where she transforms animals into human characters, reflecting their personalities, quirks, and energy through expressive artwork. She also expands beyond animals, including creative portraits inspired by real-world places and locations captured in photographs, reimagined in her unique artistic style.

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Varkey’s classical art memes have already made a few appearances on Bored Panda, and it’s easy to see why. 

His edits take the dramatic faces, poses, and gestures of old paintings and drop them into situations that feel much closer to everyday modern life than a quiet museum wall. In this post, 

I'm sharing a small batch of Varkey’s clever edits, in which classical figures navigate contemporary issues such as dating, work, awkward moments, and technology. 

What makes the project so funny is how naturally the old and new seem to fit together: a centuries-old expression makes a perfect response to today’s problems, proving that some human emotions really are timeless.