The Japanese government calls on OpenAI, the maker of “Sora 2”, not to infringe copyrights, saying that manga and anime characters are “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan boasts to the world.

The Japanese government has officially asked OpenAI to avoid copyright infringement (reportedly) Information media). This was in response to Sora 2's ability to generate videos featuring the likenesses of copyrighted characters from anime and video games.

Sora 2, launched by OpenAI on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second long videos in 1080p resolution, with sound. Soon after the app was released, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which contained depictions of copyrighted characters, including those from popular anime and game series such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon and Mario.

Minoru Kinuchi (the minister of state in charge of intellectual property and artificial intelligence strategy) spoke at a Japanese Cabinet Office press conference on Friday, informing attendees of the government's request, which calls on U.S. organizations not to infringe on Japan's intellectual property. The request was reportedly made online by the Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters. Kiuchi went on to describe manga and anime as “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan boasts to the world.

Other Japanese politicians, including Digital Minister Taira Masaaki, have expressed hope that OpenAI will take voluntary action to meet the request, and have indicated that measures under Japan's Artificial Intelligence Promotion Act may be invoked if the issue remains unresolved.

Japan's “Artificial Intelligence Promotion Law” will be fully implemented from September 1, 2025, aiming to make Japan the most “artificial intelligence friendly country” by promoting policies that promote the development and utilization of artificial intelligence to promote social and economic growth. However, it also sets out some principles for dealing with the use of artificial intelligence, including copyright infringement. Article 16 The Artificial Intelligence Promotion Act covers research and investigation and says the government can “analyze cases in which the rights or interests of citizens are infringed upon by researching, developing, or utilizing AI-related technologies for improper purposes or by improper methods, and consider countermeasures based on these analyses.” However, as noted, The future of privacy forumsThe bill does not specify penalties for misuse of artificial intelligence, but instead calls on business operators to Cooperation measures.

Akihisa Shiozaki, a politician and member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party who holds a seat in Japan's parliament, has written extensively about Sora 2 and its legal impact on him. Official X account, and famous: “The release of “Sora 2″ once again highlights the issues of artificial intelligence and copyright.”

However, he also insisted that this challenge is also an opportunity: “Japan has the responsibility to take the lead in setting rules (regarding artificial intelligence and copyright infringement) precisely because we are a country that attracts the world with our creativity in animation, games and music.”

Reuters report On September 29, OpenAI contacted studios and agencies a week before Sora 2 was released, giving them the option to opt out. However, it was not specified which studios were contacted. It's unclear whether major Japanese creative companies and studios have been contacted, but the fact that Sora 2 can generate videos containing portraits of Japanese characters has sparked a backlash on Japanese-language social media. criticize Not only against OpenAI, but also against the Japanese government and Japanese intellectual property holders for what they believe is a failure to respond quickly enough to the dangers of infringement posed by artificial intelligence.

in his October 4th Blog Post On Sora 2 (before IGN reports), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says changes will be coming to the fledgling video generation application in the near future. “First, we will give rights holders more granular control over character generation, similar to an opt-in similarity model, but with additional controls,” Altman confirmed, adding that OpenAI will give rights holders “the ability to specify how their characters are used (including not using them at all).”

He acknowledged that there may be “some edge cases” in the character descriptions, but that this will be addressed in time. Altman also singled out Japan, saying, “We are particularly grateful for Japan's outstanding creative output – the depth of the connection between users and Japanese content is astonishing to us!”

However, as of press time, OpenAI has not officially responded to the Japanese government’s latest request.

At the beginning of this month, Nintendo takes the unusual step of issuing an official statement This appears to be a response to comments made by Japanese House of Representatives member Satoshi Asano. In a since-deleted social media post, Asano accused Nintendo of “avoiding the use of generative AI to protect its intellectual property” and of “lobbying with governments” over the increased use of generative AI in the gaming industry.

Nintendo denied this but warned it would take “necessary action to combat any infringement of our intellectual property rights.”

“Contrary to recent discussions on the Internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government regarding generating artificial intelligence.” nintendo says. “Whether or not generative AI is involved, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringements of our intellectual property rights.”

Disney and Universal Pictures are suing artificial intelligence image creator Midjourney, accusing the company of improperly using and distributing AI-generated characters in its movies. Disney also sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI, warning the startup to stop any unauthorized use of its copyrighted characters.

“A lot of the videos people make of these cartoon characters are going to be copyright infringements,” said Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School. CNBC. “OpenAI’s approach has exposed itself to a host of copyright lawsuits.”

Last month, the famous lawsuit The Pokémon Company Official response to Department of Homeland Security’s use of Pokémon TV hero Ash Ketchum and the series’ theme songas part of a video showing people being arrested and handcuffed by law enforcement officers. “Our company had no role in the creation or distribution of this content and did not receive a license to use our intellectual property,” a spokesperson told IGN.

Verity Townsend is a Japanese freelance writer who worked as an editor, writer, and translator for the gaming news site Automaton West. She also writes about Japanese culture and film for various publications.