Studio Ghibli and other Japanese studios have demanded OpenAI stop using their copyrighted works for AI training without permission.
Japan’s CODA argues that using copyrighted materials requires permission.
The dispute follows AI tools mimicking Ghibli’s animation style.
A Japanese trade group representing publishers and studios, including Studio Ghibli, has asked OpenAI to stop using their copyrighted materials to train artificial intelligence models without permission. The request came in a letter sent last week by Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).
SurveyStudio Ghibli, famous for films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, has been particularly affected by the spread of AI-generated images and videos mimicking its animation style. When OpenAI’s image generator was released in March, many users began creating Ghibli-style versions of themselves, their pets and other photos. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined in by changing his profile picture on X to a Ghiblified image.
With OpenAI’s video tool Sora now becoming more widely available, CODA has urged the company to stop using its members’ creative works in training data without permission, reports TechCrunch.
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“In cases, as with Sora 2, where specific copyrighted works are reproduced or similarly generated as outputs, CODA considers that the act of replication during the machine learning process may constitute copyright infringement,” CODA wrote in the letter. “Under Japan’s copyright system, prior permission is generally required for the use of copyrighted works, and there is no system allowing one to avoid liability for infringement through subsequent objections.”
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Meanwhile, US law remains unclear on whether training AI with copyrighted material is illegal. A recent court ruling found that another AI company, Anthropic, did not break copyright law by training on protected books, though it was fined for pirating them.
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