Studio Ghibli and other Japanese publishers want OpenAI to stop training on their work

A Japanese trade association representing publishers such as Studio Ghibli wrote one letter to OpenAI last week, calling on the AI ​​giant to do so stop training are AI models on their copyrighted content without permission.

Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind films like ‘Spirited Away’ and ‘My Neighbor Totoro’, has been particularly influenced by OpenAI’s generative AI products. When ChatGPT’s native image generator was released in March, it became a popular trend for users to request recreations of their selfies or pet photos in the style of the studio’s films. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman changed his profile picture on X to a “Ghiblified” photo.

As more and more people gain access to OpenAI’s Sora app and video generator, Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) has asked OpenAI not to use its members’ content for machine learning without permission.

This request does not come unsolicited. OpenAI’s approach to working with copyrighted content is to ask for forgiveness, not permission, which has made it all too easy for users to generate photos and videos of copyrighted characters and deceased celebrities. This approach has generated complaints from institutions such as Nintendoas well as the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who could easily be deepfaked via the Sora app.

It is up to OpenAI to choose whether or not to cooperate with these requests; if not, the injured parties can file a lawsuit, although U.S. law remains unclear on the use of copyrighted material for AI training.

So far, there are few precedents that can help judges in their interpretation of copyright law has not been updated since 1976. However, a recent ruling by US federal judge William Alsup found that Anthropic had not broken the law by training its AI on copyrighted books. The company was fined for illegally copying the books it used for training.

But Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) claims this could be considered a copyright violation in Japan.

“In cases, such as Sora 2, where specific copyrighted works are reproduced or similarly generated as output, CODA believes that the replication during the machine learning process may constitute copyright infringement,” CODA wrote. “Under the Japanese copyright system, prior permission is generally required for the use of copyrighted works, and there is no system in place that allows liability for infringement to be avoided through subsequent objections.”

Hayao Miyazaki, one of Studio Ghibli’s central creative figures, has not commented directly on the proliferation of AI-generated interpretations of his work. However, when he was shown AI-generated 3D animation in 2016, he said responded that he was “utterly outraged.”

“I can’t watch this stuff and find it interesting,” he said at the time. “I am convinced that this is an insult to life itself.”