Media renews criticism of AI firms ignoring copyright laws
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, based in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, includes more than 100 member newspapers and broadcasters from across the nation. (Ryo Sanada)
A major Japanese mass media association is accusing artificial intelligence companies of violating copyright protections by collecting, using and regurgitating information scraped from news articles after explicitly being denied permission to do so.
In a statement released June 4, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association called on AI companies to comply with existing rules, and urged the government to establish and enforce systems to protect content creators and uphold intellectual property rights.
In response to the recent rise of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems and other AI technology, many news organizations in Japan have set their websites to explicitly prohibit the use of their content by generative AI.
Nevertheless, the association states there have been confirmed instances of AI firms ignoring these restrictions and unlawfully using association members' content—including as clear references in RAG systems.
Citing the Cultural Affairs Agency's 2024 guidance on AI and copyright, the association noted that such unauthorized use likely constitutes copyright infringement.
RAG systems, which use generative AI to search the web for information and generate responses to user questions, have seen a massive boom in popularity.
However, this practice has raised concerns about a growing trend known as 'zero-click search,' where users read only the AI-generated responses without clicking through to the original news sources of the information.
Media groups warn that, in addition to potentially generating misinformation, this can throttle traffic to legitimate news sites and ultimately threaten the sustainability of professional journalism.
The association's statement described the practice as 'freeriding on news content' and warned that undermining news organizations could 'threaten the public's right to know.'
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