Newspaper Group Calls on AI Companies to Get Permission to Use News Content; Says Unauthorized Training Could Amount to Copyright Infringement

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, June 6, 2025

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association on Wednesday released a statement calling for generative artificial intelligence service providers to obtain permission from news organizations when training AI tools on news content.

The association also urged the government to establish a system to protect news content, saying that a growing number of AI-based services are now using this material without permission.

In the statement, the association noted that some of its member news organizations have taken technical measures on their news sites to indicate their rejection of unauthorized AI training and use of their news content, but that some AI service providers have ignored these measures.

The association stated that such acts “could amount to copyright infringement” if they “unreasonably prejudice the interests of the copyright owner,” in the words of the Copyright Law, which governs AI training on copyrighted works.

In addition, the statement addressed the worsening problem of so-called “zero-click searches,” in which users find information to their query directly in their search results, so they do not click through to visit the website that the information comes from. The association expressed serious concern about this issue and raised questions over AI services “free riding” on news content.

“If the functions of news organizations, which are responsible for disseminating the news, deteriorate, the public’s right to know is sure to be hampered,” the statement said, calling for the implementation of “comprehensive measures that go beyond the existing framework.”