{"id":54148,"date":"2025-11-21T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=54148"},"modified":"2025-11-21T10:01:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:01:38","slug":"japans-legal-experts-think-ai-generated-images-can-quality-as-copyrighted-works-if-the-prompt-was-detailed-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-legal-experts-think-ai-generated-images-can-quality-as-copyrighted-works-if-the-prompt-was-detailed-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s legal experts think AI-generated images can qualify as copyrighted works\u00a0if the prompt\u00a0was\u00a0detailed enough\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Chiba Prefectural Police in Japan\u00a0have decided to refer\u00a0a\u00a027-year-old\u00a0man\u00a0to the prosecution\u00a0as of November 20.\u00a0He is suspected\u00a0of violating copyright law\u00a0by\u00a0using\u00a0an\u00a0AI-generated image without the\u00a0original\u00a0\u201ccreator\u2019s\u201d\u00a0permission.\u00a0According to Japanese media,\u00a0this is the first nationwide case\u00a0in which\u00a0an\u00a0AI-generated image was\u00a0deemed\u00a0to\u00a0qualify as a copyrighted work, and thus\u00a0its\u00a0use a\u00a0potential\u00a0violation of The Copyright Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As reported by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/national\/20251120-OYT1T50016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yomiuri Shimbun<\/a>,\u00a0the original\u00a0creator\u00a0of the image\u00a0generated\u00a0it\u00a0using Stable Diffusion in late August 2024. The suspect\u00a0appropriated this\u00a0image\u00a0and\u00a0allegedly\u00a0used\u00a0it\u00a0as a cover for\u00a0a\u00a0commercially sold book\u00a0without the creator\u2019s consent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a document titled \u201cGeneral Understanding on AI and Copyright in Japan,\u201d&nbsp;Japan\u2019s&nbsp;Agency for Cultural Affairs&nbsp;states&nbsp;that&nbsp;whether AI-generated outputs qualify as creative works depends on a holistic assessment of factors such as the quantity and content of prompts given to the AI and how many iterations were produced.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AI creator,&nbsp;whose copyright was allegedly infringed upon,&nbsp;told&nbsp;police&nbsp;that he gave over 20,000&nbsp;prompts&nbsp;to&nbsp;Stable Diffusion&nbsp;when creating the image in question, including&nbsp;several&nbsp;detailed&nbsp;instructions and&nbsp;revisions.&nbsp;Based on this&nbsp;testimony, the&nbsp;police&nbsp;decided to refer the case to the&nbsp;prosecution&nbsp;on suspicion of copyright ingfingement.&nbsp;They will attach an opinion calling for \u201cstrict punishment,\u201d effectively recommending&nbsp;indictment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While there is currently no verdict,&nbsp;attorney Kensaku Fukui, an expert on AI and copyright claims&nbsp;quoted by Yomiuri Shimbun, believes&nbsp;that if the prompts&nbsp;used&nbsp;contain&nbsp;sufficiently concrete and detailed specifications, the output can qualify as&nbsp;copyrighted&nbsp;work.&nbsp;While giving vague instructions to a generative AI&nbsp;tends to&nbsp;lead to diverse&nbsp;and unpredictable&nbsp;results,&nbsp;more detailed prompts can produce images&nbsp;that&nbsp;match the user\u2019s intended vision.&nbsp;In such cases, Fukui says,&nbsp;\u201cWhat\u2019s&nbsp;crucial&nbsp;is&nbsp;whether&nbsp;the human is giving instructions while being able to specifically anticipate the result.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/krafton-launches-voluntary-resignation-program-for-employees-as-it-transforms-into-an-ai-first-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Krafton launches voluntary resignation program for employees as it transforms into an \u201cAI first company\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-aniplex-bandai-namco-and-other-japanese-publishers-demand-end-to-unauthorized-training-of-openais-sora2-through-coda\/\"><strong>Sony\u2019s Aniplex, Bandai Namco and other Japanese publishers demand end to unauthorized training of OpenAI\u2019s Sora 2 through CODA\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Japanese man has been referred to prosecution on suspicion of violating copyright laws &#8211; by using an AI-generated image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":53470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,17],"class_list":["post-54148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ai","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japan\u2019s legal experts think AI-generated images can qualify as copyrighted works\u00a0if the prompt\u00a0was\u00a0detailed enough\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Japanese man has been referred to prosecution on suspicion of violating copyright laws - by using an AI-generated image.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-legal-experts-think-ai-generated-images-can-quality-as-copyrighted-works-if-the-prompt-was-detailed-enough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan\u2019s legal experts think AI-generated images can qualify as copyrighted works\u00a0if the prompt\u00a0was\u00a0detailed enough\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Japanese man has been referred to prosecution on suspicion of violating copyright laws - by using an AI-generated image.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-legal-experts-think-ai-generated-images-can-quality-as-copyrighted-works-if-the-prompt-was-detailed-enough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-21T01:01:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251030-53467-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1253\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"693\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan\u2019s legal experts think AI-generated images can qualify as copyrighted works\u00a0if the prompt\u00a0was\u00a0detailed enough\u00a0 - 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