You took a photo, ran it through a background remover, and now you want to publish it. Do you own the result? The answer is not as simple as you might expect, and it varies by where you live.
If you took the photo, you own the copyright to the photo. This is true regardless of what you do to it afterward. Background removal is an edit, not a transfer of ownership.
If someone else took the photo and you are editing it, you need permission from the copyright holder. Running it through an AI tool does not change this. The derivative work is still a derivative of their copyrighted original.
The same applies to images generated by AI. If the tool generated the image, the copyright status depends on the tool's terms of service and on the law in your jurisdiction. This is separate from background removal.
In the United States, the Copyright Office has taken the position that purely AI-generated output is not copyrightable because copyright requires human authorship. Background removal is a mechanical edit, so the output is a derivative of your original work rather than a new work.
This means the copyright on the edited image belongs to whoever owns the copyright on the original. You did not create a new work by running it through a tool. You created a derivative work, which you own if you owned the original.
In the European Union, the standard is similar but there are variations. The UK has a specific provision for computer-generated works that grants copyright to the person who made the arrangements for the creation. This is unusual and does not have a clear US equivalent.
Most background removal tools do not claim ownership over your output. You retain whatever rights you had in the original. The tool is a service provider, not a rights holder.
Some tools include clauses that grant them a license to use your images for training or marketing. This is separate from ownership. Read the terms of service if this matters to you.
Remova does not claim ownership of your output and does not use your images for training. The privacy policy covers what is collected and for how long.
If you took the photo, you can publish the cutout. You own the original and the edit is a derivative of your own work.
If you are using stock photos, check the license. Some stock licenses allow editing, some do not. Background removal is an edit.
If you are using AI-generated images from a tool like Midjourney or DALL-E, check the tool's terms. Most grant commercial usage rights, but the copyright status is unresolved.
If you are editing someone else's photo, you need permission. This is true whether you use an AI tool or Photoshop.
No. The edit is a derivative of the original. The copyright is on the original work, not on the version with the background removed.
No. Remova and every other tool in this category do not require attribution. The output is yours.
If the original is in the public domain, the derivative work is also unencumbered. You can do whatever you want with the cutout.
No. Fair use is about how you use the copyrighted work, not about what tools you used to modify it. A commercial use of someone else's photo is still a commercial use even if you removed the background.