Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Takes Proactive Measures Against Copyright Disputes Amid AI Popularization

Launch of AI Copyright Law System Improvement Working Group
"Finding a Consensus Between AI Development and Creator Rights Protection"

On the 24th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will launch the 'AI-Copyright Law System Improvement Working Group' at the Seoul office of the Korea Copyright Commission. This is a task force to discuss directions for improving the copyright system in response to the development of AI technology. It aims to proactively address issues that may arise with the widespread adoption of AI. A Ministry official stated, "We plan to examine whether it is permissible to freely use human-created works without the copyright holder's permission, and whether AI-generated texts, images, and music should be protected as copyrighted works."

In fact, related disputes are occurring one after another. A representative example is the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Getty Images, a famous American image platform, against Stability AI. Stability AI operates a service that creates images based on text input. Getty Images claims that its owned images were used without authorization for training.

To find solutions, the Ministry formed a working group consisting of field experts and stakeholders. Members include Professor Lee Dae-hee of Korea University, Professor Lee Cheol-nam of Chungnam National University, Professor Choi Kyung-jin of Gachon University, Presiding Judge Lee Gyu-hong of the Seoul High Court, Judge Kim Kwang-nam of the Seoul High Court, Prosecutor Kim Min-jung of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Director Yoo Won-young of the Content Recognition Research Division at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Senior Researcher Ko Han-gyu of LG Electronics AI Research Center, Senior Researcher Ahn Seong-won of the AI Policy Research Team at the Software Policy Research Institute, Secretary General Kim Dong-hyun of the Korea Literature and Arts Copyright Association, Director Kim Hyun-sook of the Policy and Legal Research Institute at the Korea Music Content Association, Director Jang Kyung-geun of the Copyright Policy Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Director Kim Hye-chang of the Policy Research Headquarters at the Korea Copyright Commission. They will discuss the institutional direction for the integration of copyright systems and AI technology until September.

A Ministry official said, "We plan to prepare a 'Guide for the Use of AI Outputs from a Copyright Perspective (tentative name)' to be utilized within the 'Copyright Act,'" adding, "We will seek a consensus that supports AI development while fairly guaranteeing the rights of human creators."