Tokyo: The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association on Monday called for rules on generative artificial intelligence to be made soon, including a revision of the copyright law.

The association said in a statement that the unauthorized use of news content by generative AI could financially harm news organizations and affect people’s right to know.

The association stressed that AI developers and service providers should pay reasonable fees for the use of news content.

As the current law allows generative AI to gather news content without copyright holders’ permission for use in its learning process, news organizations’ intellectual property is being used freely without payments, the association argued.

Generative AI is highly likely harming the interests of newspaper companies that offer paid news database services, it added.

Even when content produced by generative AI indicates where the information came from, the sources cited are not the websites of newspaper companies but those of news distributors, according to the association.

The association also pointed to the risk of generative AI creating misinformation, as well as related problems such as invasion of privacy and manipulation of public opinion.

JIJI Press