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Shaping the Future of Creativity: Public's Voice Sought on AI Copyright Policy

The Cultural Agency Seeks Public Comment on AI and Copyright Issues

TOKYO, Jan 18 (News On Japan) - In response to concerns over copyright infringement associated with the development and use of generative AI, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs has announced plans to seek public comments during January on a draft proposal titled "Perspectives on AI and Copyright."

This draft was prepared by a subcommittee of the Council for Cultural Affairs. With the rapid spread of generative AI use and rising concerns from creators about copyright infringement through AI's data learning and generation processes, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been discussing what actions using generative AI might constitute copyright infringement.

A draft created on January 15th outlines Article 30-4 of the Copyright Law, which generally permits the learning of copyrighted works by AI without consent, but includes caveats for cases that "exceed the necessary limits" or "unfairly harm the interests of the copyright holder." It suggests that actions such as concentrating the learning process on specific creators' works or using data from websites with search restrictions for learning could potentially infringe on copyright. The Agency for Cultural Affairs intends to conduct a public comment period on this draft within January and compile a report by the end of the fiscal year.

Source: NHK

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