Japanese Govt Sees ‘Originator Profile’ as Useful to Identify Origin of Online Information; Aims to Protect Intellectual Property Rights

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:03 JST, April 23, 2024

The government believes Originator Profile (OP) is effective at providing the origin of online information, as outlined in a draft report at a meeting of a government panel.

The government presented a draft interim report on Monday at the expert panel meeting on intellectual property in the artificial intelligence era to discuss how intellectual property rights should be protected in the rapidly developing age of generative AI.

OP is a technology that identifies the senders of information online.

The government intends to create an “ecosystem in which the advancement of AI technology and the proper protection of intellectual property rights are compatible,” the draft states.

To that end, the draft urges AI developers, providers, creators and other rights holders as well as users to work together through an appropriate combination of laws, technology and contracts.

The draft requests developers to properly collect and study data in accordance with legal rules such as the Copyright Law and the Unfair Competition Prevention Law.

For data used to train generative AI, the draft emphasizes the importance of developers and providers compensating rights holders through contracts.

Regarding technical measures to protect intellectual property rights, it recommended OP and another technology that rejects programs that automatically collect information, among others.

Prof. Toshiya Watanabe of the Institute for Future Initiatives at the University of Tokyo has been commissioned to prepare the draft interim summary. The government plans to make a formal decision by the end of May.