Midjourney & AI Art Basics Guide

Midjourney offers a limited free trial when you first join their Discord server, typically around 25 image generations. After exhausting the free trial, you must subscribe to a paid plan to continue generating images. The free trial has several limitations: 1) You can only use the #newbies channels (which are often crowded), 2) Images are generated at slower "Relaxed" mode speeds, 3) You cannot use Stealth Mode (all images are public on Midjourney's website), 4) Limited to basic features without access to advanced parameters, 5) No commercial usage rights for free trial images. For serious use, the Basic plan at $10/month offers much better experience with faster generation times, more concurrent jobs, and commercial rights to your creations.

Good Midjourney prompts include specific details about: Subject, Style, Composition, Lighting, Color palette, and Artistic influences. Example effective prompts: "A majestic dragon sleeping on a pile of gold coins in a dark cave, cinematic lighting, hyper-detailed, fantasy art style by Greg Rutkowski and Artgerm, 8k resolution --ar 16:9 --v 5.2" or "A cyberpunk street food vendor at night in Tokyo, neon lights reflecting on wet pavement, cinematic shot, wide angle, photorealistic, detailed faces, Sony A7III photograph --ar 3:2". Key prompt writing tips: 1) Be specific but not overly restrictive, 2) Mention artistic styles or specific artists, 3) Include technical terms (cinematic, photorealistic, illustration), 4) Add lighting descriptions (golden hour, studio lighting, dramatic shadows), 5) Use parameters wisely (--ar for aspect ratio, --style for different aesthetics).

Copyright for AI-generated art is a complex and evolving legal area. Current general guidelines: 1) Midjourney's Terms - Paid subscribers own assets they create, including commercial rights (with some exceptions), 2) U.S. Copyright Office - Has stated that purely AI-generated works without human authorship cannot be copyrighted, 3) Human-AI Collaboration - Works with significant human creative input (selection, arrangement, modification) may qualify for copyright protection, 4) Training Data Issues - Some AI art may inadvertently reproduce elements from training data, creating potential infringement issues. Best practices: Keep records of your creative process, add significant human modification to AI outputs, avoid generating images in styles of living artists without permission, and consult legal counsel for commercial projects. The legal landscape is likely to evolve significantly in coming years.

One of Midjourney's biggest advantages is that it requires minimal hardware on your end since all processing happens on Midjourney's servers. Basic requirements: 1) Any computer that can run Discord (even older machines or Chromebooks), 2) Internet connection (faster is better for downloading generated images), 3) Discord account (free), 4) Web browser or Discord app. There's no need for: Expensive graphics cards (GPU), Large amounts of RAM, Powerful processors, or Specialized software installation. This accessibility is why Midjourney has grown so rapidly - anyone with a basic computer and internet can create professional-level AI art. For those wanting to work with the images afterward, basic image editing software (like free alternatives to Photoshop) is helpful but not required for generation itself.

Yes, you can sell art created with Midjourney if you have an active paid subscription. The specific rights depend on your subscription tier: 1) Basic & Standard Plans - You own assets you create and can use them commercially (sell prints, merchandise, etc.), but you cannot sell the service of generating images for others, 2) Pro & Mega Plans - Additional rights including creating images for clients if your company earns less than $1,000,000 annually, 3) All Plans - Cannot use Midjourney to train other AI models, cannot claim ownership of the Midjourney model itself, must comply with content policies (no generation of harmful content). Important: You must add significant creative contribution beyond the initial generation (editing, combining with other elements, etc.) to strengthen your copyright claim. Always review Midjourney's current Terms of Service for the most up-to-date commercial use policies.