Japanese Publishers Urge OpenAI to Cease Unauthorized Use of Copyrighted Works in Sora 2

Multiple Japanese publishers, including prominent companies such as Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Kadokawa, have publicly urged OpenAI to discontinue the unauthorized use of their creative works in training its artificial intelligence tool, Sora 2. The Content Overseas Distribution Association, a Japanese organization established to promote the global development of Japanese content and combat piracy, has issued an open letter to OpenAI, pointing out that a substantial portion of the content produced by Sora 2 closely resembles Japanese content or images. According to the organization, this similarity is a direct result of using Japanese content as machine learning data, which may constitute copyright infringement. The association has requested that OpenAI refrain from using its members' content for machine learning without their explicit permission and respond promptly to claims and inquiries regarding copyright infringement related to Sora 2's outputs. This development comes amidst varying stances on the use of artificial intelligence in the gaming industry, with some companies embracing the technology and others expressing concerns about intellectual property protection.