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A 2025 Futurism investigation found that ChatGPT sometimes refused a direct request for Snoopy, then produced a recognizable version after a small wording change. The report also described successful generations of characters including Garfield, Peter Griffin, Betty Boop, SpongeBob SquarePants, Calvin and Spike Spiegel. That is evidence of inconsistent enforcement in October 2025—not proof that every copyrighted character is currently available, or that generating one is legally safe.
What the original ChatGPT test actually showed
Futurism published its report on October 18, 2025, after testing image-generation requests in ChatGPT with GPT-5. A direct request for Snoopy reportedly produced a refusal. A rephrased request asking for Snoopy “in his original style” reportedly generated a recognizable Snoopy-like image. The article said other named characters succeeded with little or no prompt manipulation.
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The reported examples included Snoopy, Garfield, Peter Griffin, Betty Boop, SpongeBob SquarePants, Calvin and Spike Spiegel. Futurism’s argument was about inconsistent enforcement: the system could reject one formulation while producing a recognizable copyrighted character from another. It did not establish that all characters would work, that the behavior was universal, or that the outputs were authorized.
The report was not a controlled benchmark. It did not publish a complete test matrix, account region, subscription tier, exact generation date for every image, or a reproducible archive of all prompts and outputs. Treat it as dated investigative reporting and evidence of observed behavior, rather than a statistically representative evaluation. Read the original Futurism report.
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Does the loophole still work in 2026?
There is no independently verified August 2026 test in the available evidence. The defensible conclusion is therefore narrower than “ChatGPT still generates copyrighted characters.”
| Question | What is established | What remains unverified |
|---|---|---|
| Historical behavior | Futurism reported recognizable character outputs in October 2025. | Whether the same prompts work after later model, policy or interface changes. |
| Current policy | OpenAI requires users to follow applicable law and its policies and says it may refuse or remove content. | How consistently current image systems enforce those rules in every account, region and product. |
| Current availability | Selected licensed characters were announced for a planned Disney partnership. | Whether a particular character or feature is available in a particular ChatGPT account today. |
A current investigation would need to record the date and time in UTC, country or region, interface, subscription tier, displayed model or image mode, account personalization, conversation state, exact prompt, result, refusal language and any later removal. One successful image would show one failure case; one refusal would show only one configuration.
Policy is not the same as enforcement
OpenAI’s service terms place responsibility on users to have the rights, licenses and permissions needed for content they provide. The terms also say that, between the user and OpenAI and to the extent permitted by law, the user owns output. That allocation does not transfer the rights held by Disney, Warner Bros., Nintendo, Paramount or another rights holder. It also does not promise that an output is unique, copyrightable, non-infringing or safe to sell. See OpenAI’s service terms and the terms revision containing output language.
- A model can generate an image despite a rule that says it should refuse.
- A refusal is a platform decision, not a court ruling about copyright.
- A successful generation is not a license from the character owner.
- OpenAI’s assignment of any rights it may have in an output cannot assign rights it does not own.
- Another user may receive a similar result, so output is not necessarily exclusive.
OpenAI’s Sora materials describe layered safeguards, including input and output checks, reverse-search tools, provenance signals and updated moderation. Those descriptions show the intended safety architecture; they are not a guarantee that every ChatGPT image control works perfectly or identically. Sora-specific materials should not be treated as a complete specification of ChatGPT image moderation. See OpenAI’s Sora feed and IP safeguards and its Sora launch safety materials.
Why a copyrighted-character image creates different risks
“Generated,” “possessed,” “posted” and “sold” are not interchangeable legal events. The applicable rules vary by country, character, depiction and use.
| Use | Relative practical risk | Prudent approach |
|---|---|---|
| Private experimentation | Lower practical exposure, but not automatically risk-free. | Do not treat the model’s output as legal clearance or platform permission. |
| Public fan art | Moderate. | Identify it as fan work, avoid implying sponsorship and check the platform’s rules. |
| Monetized social content | Moderate to high. | Obtain permission or use a genuinely original character. |
| Merchandise or paid downloads | High. | Use licensed assets or commission rights-cleared original work. |
| Advertising, games, books or branded campaigns | High. | Secure written clearance and obtain legal advice for consequential projects. |
| Parody or criticism | Fact-specific. | Assess fair-use and related claims with a qualified lawyer before publication. |
Private generation
A private, noncommercial experiment generally presents less practical exposure than selling an image, but it does not automatically resolve reproduction, derivative-work, contract or jurisdictional questions.
Public posting
Uploading an image to a website, portfolio, social platform or marketplace can add claims involving reproduction, public display, derivative use, trademark confusion or other rights. The rights holder may object even when no money changes hands.
Commercial exploitation
Merchandise, advertising, paid books, games, films and monetized channels create substantially greater exposure. A model’s willingness to produce a character does not supply the permission needed for those uses.
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Parody and transformation
Parody, criticism, commentary and other transformative uses can receive protection in some circumstances, especially in the United States, but fair use is fact-specific. Changing a background, adding a joke or saying “AI made it” is not a categorical defense.
What makes a fictional character legally distinctive?
Copyright does not protect every broad character idea in the same way. “A talking animal detective” is a general concept. A distinctive combination of visual traits, personality, story elements, costume and identifying features may contain protected expression. Names, logos and branding can also raise trademark issues, while a depiction may overlap with protected artwork, animation or design.
There is no universal rule that changing a color, removing a name or altering three features makes a character safe. Risk increases when an allegedly original result preserves a protected character’s distinctive appearance, signature costume, setting, catchphrases or other expressive elements. Public-domain status must also be checked for the specific version, adaptation, trademark and jurisdiction.
AI output may be unprotected even when it resembles someone else’s character
The U.S. Copyright Office’s January 29, 2025 summary says AI-generated output can receive copyright protection where a human author determines sufficient expressive elements. Mere prompting, by itself, is generally insufficient under the Office’s analysis. Human-authored text, selection, arrangement, modification or other creative contributions may support protection in qualifying portions or a compilation. See the Copyright Office summary and its Part 2 report.
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That creates two separate questions:
- Can the user claim copyright in the resulting image?
- Does the image copy another party’s protected character, artwork or branding?
A user may have weak or no copyright protection in an image while still facing an infringement allegation. Conversely, human creative work incorporated into an image may be protectable even though the underlying character belongs to someone else.
What changed after the 2025 report?
Disney licensing announcement
On December 11, 2025, OpenAI announced a three-year Disney agreement describing access to more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters. The announcement said selected Sora-generated videos could potentially appear on Disney+ and that ChatGPT Images was expected to use the same licensed intellectual property. It described required approvals and definitive agreements, not automatic access to every character for every account. It did not license unrelated companies’ characters or actor likenesses and voices. Read OpenAI’s Disney announcement.
Sora is not a current product by default
OpenAI’s safety update states that Sora was no longer available as of April 26, 2026. Coverage should not present Sora 2 as a currently available service without independently verified evidence of a replacement or successor. Historical Sora reporting remains relevant to the policy discussion, but not as proof of present product availability. See OpenAI’s discontinuation notice and the Sora 2 system card.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why refusals and outputs can diverge
Several mechanisms may contribute, without proving that any one caused a particular result:
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- Input and output moderation may use different detection systems.
- A character name may be recognized inconsistently.
- The system may classify a prompt as generic description, parody, transformation or style imitation.
- Image moderation may fail to identify a resemblance after generation.
- Models, account tiers, regions, interfaces and rollout dates may differ.
- Small wording changes may alter a classifier’s confidence.
These possibilities explain why a refusal and a recognizable output can coexist. They do not turn a failed safeguard into permission.
How to test current behavior responsibly
If you publish a new test, document the configuration rather than presenting a bypass recipe.
- Record the UTC date and time, country or region, interface, subscription tier and displayed model or image mode.
- Start a fresh conversation and note memory, custom instructions and other personalization.
- Use categories such as a direct named-character request, a descriptive request without the name, parody or criticism, a deliberately generic original character, a user-supplied image, a commercial-merchandise request and a licensed-character request where the feature is actually available.
- Save the exact prompt, refusal text, generated result, number of repeated attempts and any later flag or removal.
- Record whether downloading or sharing is permitted and whether provenance markers or metadata appear.
- Describe whether the result is merely genre-like or recognizably the same character, and state that one result cannot establish universal availability.
Safer choices for creators
- Use a genuinely original character for commercial work, avoiding a famous name and distinctive combinations of costume, setting, catchphrase and visual traits.
- Obtain a written license for recognizable franchise characters and retain the permission records.
- Do not rely on a successful generation as evidence of ownership, exclusivity or clearance.
- Separate human-created text, drawing, editing, selection and arrangement from automatically generated material in your records.
- Check the current OpenAI terms and the rights holder’s policies before publishing.
- Seek legal advice for advertising, merchandise, publishing, games, client work or high-visibility parody.
Choosing a tool for rights-sensitive work
A general image generator may be adequate for private fan experimentation. Merchandise, publishing, advertising, games and client projects are better served by licensed assets, a rights-cleared production workflow or a genuinely original character. Evaluate any service by its rights language, commercial-use terms, explicit licenses, moderation and appeals process, provenance features, model and regional stability, and any enterprise indemnity or exclusions. Current prices for ChatGPT, the OpenAI API, Adobe Firefly and Midjourney are not stated here because they require a live, region-specific check.
The practical answer
The 2025 report demonstrated that ChatGPT’s safeguards could behave inconsistently: a refusal did not always prevent a recognizable character output. It did not prove that the same behavior remains available in August 2026, and it never created a blanket legal permission. Treat historical tests as historical, distinguish platform enforcement from copyright law, and use licenses or original characters when the image will be published, monetized or used commercially.
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