Two separate questions get mixed up here: (1) what can I legally do with this song, and (2) do I 'own the copyright' in the traditional sense. For creators, the first matters most day to day.
Usage rights vs copyright
The licence from your AI tool is what tells you whether you can publish, monetise and distribute a track. On Autunes, paid plans grant commercial usage. Whether AI output qualifies for traditional copyright protection is a separate, evolving legal question in many jurisdictions.
Be practical and honest
Because the law is still catching up, the safe approach is to use a paid plan with clear commercial terms and keep your prompts and lyrics on record. This article is general information, not legal advice — consult a professional for your specific situation.
Ownership and copyright are not the same question
Two things get conflated here. Ownership is a contractual matter between you and the platform, and on a paid plan the track is yours to use, sell and publish. Copyright is a legal question about what a given jurisdiction will register, and different countries take different views on purely machine-generated work.
In practice the distinction matters mostly if you want to register or enforce a copyright. It rarely affects ordinary use — publishing, monetising and licensing a track to a client are governed by your rights under the plan, not by whether a registry accepts the filing.
- Ownership under your plan and statutory copyright are separate.
- Human-written lyrics strengthen the copyright position.
- Ordinary commercial use is unaffected by the registry question.