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Squijoo Digital Backdrops: The use of AI and Stock Elements

Squijoo provides a vast selection of digital backdrop templates under different categories and themes. We wanted to take a moment to clarify some things in our creative process.

1. THE USE OF AI (Artificial Intelligence)

As you all already know several of our latest selection of digital backdrops have been generated with the use of AI . We particularly use a program called MidJourney to create our AI generated digital backdrops.

In a nutshell, the process involves entering text prompts into Midjourney/Discord and getting variations of an image. A chosen image is then upscaled with upscaling software and then processed/edited in Photoshop before being released to our members.

The Legalities

MidJourney clearly states in their terms of use that with a paid subscription (which we have) users are able to use them commercially and free to use the images just about any way you want. Therefore it is perfectly legal for us to generate these AI images and offer them to you our members. It is also perfectly legal for you to use them in your commercial projects! See the Midjourney terms of use for more details.

Copyright

As it currently stands, any images created with Midjourney AI are NOT copyrightable by anyone! Therefore, we do not claim any copyright on AI generated images. So why do we have watermarks/grids placed on them? It’s because we have large costs associated with generating these images. These include a MidJourney Pro Plan Subscription ($576/year), Upscaling software to enlarge sizes, dedicated hosting of all images on our servers plus time/labor.

The Ethics

There’s been great debate in the creative community about the ethical use of AI. Many creatives are concerned (and rightfully so) that AI machines may be trained on billions of images with some crossing the boundaries of copyright issues.  While this is an absolutely valid concern, we believe AI is here to stay and we either have the choice to embrace and adopt it or get left behind. Only time will tell.

2. THE USE OF STOCK ELEMENTS

Some of our backdrops do incorporate stock assets. We would like to emphasize again that any stock elements used in our creations have been purchased with full royalty free and commercial rights or obtained from free stock sites that provide licensing for free commercial use.  Example: Unsplash

We hope this gives you a better understanding of our digital backdrop assets.

A Message To Squijoo Members

Dear Squijoo Members,

We at Squijoo.com thank all of our customers for your patience during the month of February. We are always striving to improve our site and social media communications with the community of photographers and designers. The Squijoo site has been updated as part of our commitment to provide you with higher quality products and services that are flexible to meet your needs.

There are many sites available on the internet to provide artists like you with the services they need. As fellow photographers and designers, we have created an easily accessible and affordable site with quality work. We remain dedicated to expanding access and championing artists so that our customers and community can save time, money and grow their businesses.

We are strongly committed to the work and integrity of our artists. We will continue to ensure that the artist community is revered and respected.

At Squijoo.com, you may trust that you are receiving quality work from respected designers at affordable prices. Together, we can build a community that makes each other greater and more successful to foster the artist in all of us. We’re committed to seeing this happen and you can count on Squijoo to do our part.

Best regards,

The Squijoo Team

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If you have any questions or concerns feel free to Contact Us