Japan news media assn calls for protecting content from AI

The request was included in a written opinion submitted to the Cabinet Office by the association, also known as Nihon Shinbun Kyokai, regarding the government's intellectual property promotion plan to be drawn up next year.

The plan summarizes the government's basic policy on the protection and utilization of intellectual property and is typically drawn up around June every year.

The Cabinet Office has been seeking public opinions for next year's plan, which the government began considering last month.

The NSK's written opinion said that "there is no end to generative AI services that use content without permission."

It argued that leaving unchecked so-called zero-click searches, in which users can obtain information by viewing AI-generated responses without visiting websites that are the sources of the information, could undermine the functions of news organizations and hinder the public's right to know.

The association also called for making it a legal obligation under the copyright law to respect news outlets' denial of access by AI to their articles without permission.

Japanese news organizations have filed a series of lawsuits over content protection against U.S. startup Perplexity AI Inc., which offers a generative AI-powered search service.

"The association shares awareness of the problem," the NSK said in the written opinion regarding suits against Perplexity.

"We want (the startup) to take seriously the fact that news organizations had no choice but to take strong action, such as filing lawsuits."