Newspaper Association Urges Amendment of AI Basic Law to Prevent News Copyright Infringement

Legal Amendment Proposals Submitted for the Generative AI Era
"Disclosure of AI Training Data Should Be Mandatory"

The Korea Newspaper Association (Chairman Lim Chae-cheong) has submitted legal amendment proposals to the National Assembly and the government to disclose AI training data and strengthen news copyright protection.

Korea Newspaper Association logo. [Photo by Korea Newspaper Association]

On February 28, the Newspaper Association submitted its amendment proposals for the "Basic Act on Artificial Intelligence Development and Trust Foundation" (AI Basic Act) and the "Copyright Act" to the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and the Ministry of Science and ICT, among other relevant agencies, urging the establishment of a news copyright protection system suitable for the generative AI era, the association announced on the 5th.

The proposal includes a suggestion to add a clause to Article 31 (Obligation to Ensure AI Transparency) of the AI Basic Act stating that "AI business operators must disclose the training data used in the development and utilization of artificial intelligence."

The Newspaper Association emphasized that "the data on which artificial intelligence learns includes various creative works and knowledge," and stressed the need for clear regulations on the disclosure of training data to protect copyrights and ensure the transparency and reliability of AI technology.

The AI Basic Act, enacted last December, stipulates the basis for supporting the AI industry and establishing a trust foundation. However, concerns have been raised that regulations on the recording, preservation, and disclosure of training data were omitted during the rapid legislative process and need to be supplemented.

Additionally, through its amendment proposal for the Copyright Act, the Newspaper Association requested the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to explicitly designate news as a separate subject of copyright protection.

Currently, the Copyright Act exemplifies works such as novels, poems, and theses as copyrighted works, but news articles are broadly categorized under "other literary works." The association demanded that "news" be added to the examples of works in Article 4 of the law.

Furthermore, it urged the deletion of the clause on "current affairs reports that merely convey facts," stipulated in Article 7 on "works not protected." The association cited precedents stating that "even news reports conveying facts qualify as copyrighted works if there is creativity in the selection of topics, expression, or if the author's evaluation is reflected."

The Newspaper Association emphasized, "With the advent of generative AI, news copyright infringement is becoming more severe, but the current Copyright Act's provisions for protecting news works are insufficient," and stressed the need to establish a new legal framework for news copyright protection suitable for the AI and digital media era.