The world of animation and Japanese comic raise your voice against artificial intelligence. The Association for the Distribution of Content Abroad (CODA), which brings together names such as Studio Ghibli, Square Enix, Toei, Bandai Namco Filmworks, Toho and Fuji Television, has sent a public letter to OpenAI requesting that you immediately cease use of works protected by copyright for training its video generation platform, Sora 2.
As reported by Variety, CODA claims that many of the contents generated by Sora 2 have evident similarities with styles and images attributable to Japanese animation. Furthermore, they think that these similarities are not coincidental, but the direct result of using copyrighted material as the basis for the system’s machine learning.
“In cases where copyrighted works are reproduced or similar outputs are generated – the statement reads – CODA believes that the act of replication during the learning process may constitute a violation of copyright law”. But the protest doesn’t stop here. The finger is also pointed at the systemer the opting-out adopted by OpenAI, which requires rights holders to actively notify their desire to exclude works from training datasets.
According to the association, this approach would be contrary to Japanese laws, which automatically protect works without the need for a prior declaration. In other words, if an author or studio does not communicate to OpenAI that they do not want to be included, the US company assumes it can use the works freely. A rights management model that has raised doubts even among the giants of American entertainment.
Founded in 2002, CODA was born with the aim of promoting and protecting Japanese cultural contents in the world, in particular against digital piracy. His position today highlights a growing tension between the creative industry and companies developing generative artificial intelligence, which increasingly rely on large amounts of data, often of artistic origin, to improve their algorithms. The episode marks a new chapter in the international debate on the relationship between human creativity and artificial intelligence. While AI opens up unprecedented horizons for audiovisual production, on the other it raises urgent questions about who really owns the images and ideas that power it. And in Japan, home of an art that has conquered the world, the battle has just begun.