Japanese police have charged a man with unauthorized use of an AI-generated image, marking the first legal case in Japan where such an image is considered a copyrighted work under the Copyright Act. The case involves a man in his 20s from Chiba prefecture, who created the image using Stable Diffusion in 2024 and alleges that a 27-year-old man reused it without permission for his book cover. The original creator employed over 20,000 prompts, prompting law enforcement to verify the extent of his involvement in the creative process. Japanese copyright law recognizes a work as copyrighted if it expresses thoughts or sentiments creatively. An AI-generated image crafted with detailed instructions may qualify for copyright protection, evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Recent concerns have arisen regarding similar AI-generated content resembling existing copyrights, fueling debates among major entertainment entities and the Japanese government on AI’s implications for intellectual property rights.
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