Market substitution is when a new product is close enough to an existing work that it reduces demand for the original. In copyright and AI disputes, the key question is not only whether a model learned from protected material, but whether its output can serve the same commercial role as the source it resembles.
This matters in cyber security because generative systems can create copy, images, code, or support content at scale. If those outputs substitute for licensed assets, they can trigger legal, contractual, and reputational risk. Security and governance teams reduce that risk with provenance tracking, rights management, similarity checks, output review, and clear reuse policies. In attack scenarios, the same idea appears when adversaries imitate trusted brands or services closely enough to replace the legitimate channel and capture users’ attention or trust.