Bedford council refuses to comment after backlash over AI generated 'world cup' image
Bedford Borough Council has declined to comment after questions were raised about its use of an AI-generated image featuring what appears to be FIFA World Cup branding to promote a town-centre restaurant competition.
The image was used in a Facebook post advertising a planned “Bedford Restaurant World Cup” (May 22, 2026) and showed a gold World Cup-style trophy bearing the words “FIFA WORLD CUP”, alongside football-themed imagery.
The post attracted criticism from some social media users, with several questioning the council’s use of AI-generated artwork and others suggesting local artists could have been used instead.
Responding to critics on Facebook, the council said the competition was intended to run at “zero cost to taxpayers” and argued that commissioning artwork would have involved spending public money.
The council wrote: “The entire competition is intended to run at zero cost to taxpayers, and we wouldn’t expect any artist to work for free.”
It also said no artist had been deprived of paid work because it had no budget to commission artwork for the project.
Questions were put to the council by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asking if any intellectual property checks had been carried out before the image was published and whether it believed it had the right to use the imagery shown.
A council spokesperson said: “We will not be commenting.”
James Buckley-Thorp, founder of AI consultancy Atlian and a commentator on artificial intelligence, said: “This image contains multiple layers of intellectual property infringement.
“The FIFA World Cup trophy is prominently displayed with the words ‘FIFA WORLD CUP’ clearly visible. The Three Lions badge appears on multiple shirts. Both are registered trademarks, actively enforced by FIFA and the FA respectively.
“The fact that the image was AI-generated is legally irrelevant.
“Under UK law, responsibility for infringing content lies with the person or organisation that uses it, not the tool that created it.
“When an organisation reaches for an AI tool to produce a poster, it is bypassing a real person who could have created that work.
“That is a choice with consequences, and in this case, those consequences are legal as well as ethical.
“If budget was genuinely tight, the council could have approached the Art and Design department at Bedford College and run a student competition.
“That would have cost nothing, produced something original and legally clean, and given a platform to a talented young artist from the local community,” he said.
FIFA and the FA have been approached for a comment.