If you use AI anywhere in your editing — noise reduction, retouching, distraction removal, masking, upscaling, AI culling, smart-clone, or generative fill (including the AI baked into your gallery and editing software) — your clients are entitled to know, and your contract should be the thing that tells them first. This clause discloses your software- and AI-assisted workflow the right way: it protects your process without giving up an inch of your creative control.
What it covers:
1. Assistive editing tools. Names the AI/ML-assisted tools your post-production may use — noise reduction, retouching, object and distraction removal, masking, upscaling, color — as part of your signature editing style.
2. Human direction. Makes clear that every creative and artistic decision stays under your judgment. The tools assist your workflow; they never replace your control over the final work.
3. Image integrity — your choice of stance. Two ready-to-use options: a strict "no AI-generated content — your work reflects what actually happened" version, or a "composite & enhanced" version that permits merging real frames (the perfect group photo) and removing distractions, while never fabricating events that didn't occur.
4. Scope. Limits the disclosure to the images and footage delivered under the agreement, so it doesn't accidentally sweep in the rest of your business.
Who it's for:
Any creator who uses AI-assisted tools anywhere in their workflow — photographers, videographers, and content creators alike, across wedding, portrait, editorial, and commercial or brand work. The clause's [Provider] field flexes to however your contract names you (Photographer, Videographer, Studio, or Company). If your gallery or editing software culls or retouches with AI, or you've ever used generative fill to clean up a frame, this is the disclosure that keeps you honest and covered.
How it works:
Nest it inside your existing editing / artistic-style section, or drop it in as its own Section [X]. Replace the fill-in [Provider] fields, pick your image-integrity stance, and copy-paste — about five minutes. You receive a PDF with a Google Doc link, highlighted customization fields, and implementation notes.
Why a real clause matters:
"I use some AI in editing," buried in a DM, isn't consent. A clean, specific disclosure — drafted by an attorney who works with creatives every week — heads off the "you never told me AI touched my work" conversation before it ever starts.
Related AI Clauses
Each clause covers a different direction of AI use — pick the one (or ones) that fit:
• To govern how your client uses AI on the work you deliver → AI Clause
• To disclose your own assistive-AI editing → AI Editing Disclosure Clause
• To require clients to submit human work for review → No-AI Submission / Human Work Required Clause
Browse the full set → theartistslawyer.com/collections/ai
The Artists' Lawyer templates are attorney-drafted, not legal advice.