THE CIP STANDARD
The framework for subsisting AI⇆IP rights for creative intellectual property. Developed by Creative Intellectual Property Charity with input from creators, agencies, lawyers, underwriters, and platform operators.
The CIP Standard sets out a clear framework for creative content provenance, rights awareness, consent, governance, and professional recognition. It exists because creative works carry subsisting IP rights that persist across every form of AI use, from training data ingestion to synthetic content generation to automated distribution. The standard provides a shared structure for creators, organisations, advisers, and platforms working to understand and professionally manage those rights.
Preliminary: the renaming problem
The core problem is definitional. When a creative work is renamed “training data”, the rights that subsist in it do not disappear. Copyright does not lapse. Neighbouring rights are not waived. Identity rights are not surrendered. Yet the operational frameworks governing AI training pipelines have treated those rights as if they had.
CIP exists to correct that: to bring structure, professional standards, and recognised evidence to the question of what rights subsist, in what content, and on what terms AI use is or is not permitted.
A common standard helps create consistency. It gives creators, organisations, advisers, and platforms a shared basis for understanding what is expected, what evidence matters, and what recognised good practice looks like.
Subsisting rights and registered rights
This distinction is fundamental to understanding why the CIP framework exists and what problem it solves.
Subsisting rights
Automatic legal recognition
A subsisting right exists the moment a qualifying work is created or a qualifying act occurs. No application. No registration. No fee. No government office involved. The right comes into existence automatically under law.
Registered rights
State-issued exclusivity
A registered right is granted by a state authority following a formal application and examination process. Registration requires active steps by the rights holder and, typically, payment of fees. Examples include patents, trade marks, and registered designs.
Why this distinction matters for AI
The AI content pipeline almost exclusively engages subsisting rights, not registered rights. When an AI company scrapes the web, ingests a music catalogue, or trains on photographs, the rights it encounters are automatic and universal. They do not depend on whether any creator filed a patent or registered a trade mark.
This is why renaming creative content as “training data” does not help AI companies legally. The copyright subsists. The neighbouring rights subsist. The NILP rights subsist. None of them required registration. None of them lapse because the work was ingested.
The six functional areas
The CIP Standard brings together core areas that increasingly shape the handling of creative content. It is organised around distinct functions in the creative rights chain.
Machine-readable declaration: cip.md
The cip.md file is the machine-readable expression of the CIP Standard. It sits alongside creative content, in the same directory, attached to the same asset, deployed at the same endpoint, and declares the rights, consent terms, and licensing conditions that apply to the work.
The format is designed to be readable by both humans and AI systems. It uses a structured key-value syntax that can be parsed programmatically while remaining intelligible to anyone who opens the file. The parallel with robots.txt is deliberate: a lightweight, file-based declaration that AI systems are expected to read and respect.
A Core Data Record makes subsisting rights visible and evidenced.
A cip.md declaration makes those rights machine-readable.
The Rights Registry makes them independently verifiable.
How the standard is organised
The CIP Standard is organised through role-based certification paths. Each path maps to a distinct function in the rights chain and has its own requirements, assessments, standards, and outputs.
Governance, oversight, and versioning
Governance
CIP is governed by Creative Intellectual Property Charity through a standards structure with representation from the professional communities it serves. Oversight includes standards governance, independent audit support, and ongoing review as regulation and professional practice develop.
Versioning
The CIP Standard is currently at version 3.84. As legal frameworks, professional practice, and sector expectations develop, particularly around AI training obligations, synthetic content disclosure, and identity rights, the standard will be revised, expanded, and updated. Versioning ensures changes are structured, visible, and reviewable.
Consultation responses and feedback on the standard should be directed to charity@creativeip.org.
Governance body: Creative Intellectual Property Charity (CIO Foundation Model, application 5289637).
- CIP Level 1 Foundation Course · 7 modules
- Certification Tracks · 5 professional paths
- CIP Glossary · 389 defined terms
- AI IP Risk Self-Assessment · 8 questions
THE STANDARD IS PUBLISHED.
The courses are open. The tools are available. Start with the self-assessment to understand your rights exposure, or go straight to the Level 1 course.