Cabinet Office Weighs AI User, Developer Copyright Infringement Liability

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:39 JST, January 27, 2024

The Cabinet Office expressed the view on Friday that AI developers might be liable for copyright infringement if they do not take measures to prevent the generation of works similar to copyrighted materials with generative AI. During a meeting on intellectual property rights in the AI era, the Cabinet Office presented the idea that both users and developers of generative AI could bear responsibility for infringements.

This clarifies that, if generative AI creates works imitating existing paintings or music, AI developers could be held accountable as well as the person who sells the creations. In the meeting, measures were also discussed to prevent unintentional intellectual property rights infringement by users of generative AI, and experts called on AI developers to provide information to users.