The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Korea Copyright Commission, will hold the third plenary meeting of the "2025 Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Copyright System Improvement Council" at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, on November 27, 2025.
The council, launched in March, has been operating with four subcommittees: AI Training Data System, AI Training Data Transaction Activation, AI Output Utilization, and a Special Subcommittee for Developing Fair Use Guidelines. At this plenary meeting, the achievements of the four subcommittees will be shared, and a draft of the "(tentative title) Fair Use Guide" related to generative AI training on copyrighted works will be discussed.
Thus far, the AI Training Data System Subcommittee has included participation from rights holders, developers, academia, legal and technical experts, and relevant ministries, discussing various improvement measures for AI training exemptions and the disclosure of training data. While some argued that a separate exemption provision is still necessary to promote the AI industry, the introduction of a "Text and Data Mining (TDM)" exemption was reconsidered after reviewing precedents from countries that adopted it earlier. Due to low effectiveness-such as disputes between creators and AI companies and the lack of protection measures for creators-the council decided to improve related systems and interpretations based on the current fair use regulations.
The Special Subcommittee for Developing Fair Use Guidelines conducted a survey of AI developers and rights holders from October 13 to November 2 to identify specific cases where fair use is difficult to determine under current law. Following this, and after gathering opinions from relevant ministries, a draft of the Fair Use Guide was prepared. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to hold a public briefing session on the Fair Use Guide at the National Folk Museum of Korea at 2 p.m. on December 4, to gather feedback from AI businesses, rights holders, the legal community, academia, and the general public. The final Fair Use Guide will be released within the year, reflecting the council's discussions and the results of the public briefing session.
The AI Training Data Transaction Activation Subcommittee reviewed the current status and major challenges of negotiations and transactions for AI training data between AI companies and rights holders, and discussed ways to lay the groundwork for future negotiations. A survey conducted in August revealed differing views on the nature of training activities and compensation standards, but both AI companies and rights holders agreed on the need to establish negotiation opportunities for training data transactions. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will support future negotiations with AI companies that expressed willingness to transact training data in the survey.
The AI Output Utilization Subcommittee reviewed and published the "Guide to Copyright Registration for Works Utilizing Generative AI" and the "Guide to Preventing Copyright Disputes Arising from Generative AI Outputs" in June. The ministry noted that, following the publication of these guides, the number of registrations for works utilizing generative AI in the second half of the year increased more than tenfold compared to the first half, indicating that the guides have been practically helpful for the public in understanding complex copyright issues related to AI outputs.
Jung Hyangmi, Director of the Copyright Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "It is necessary for creators to view the AI industry as a new opportunity, and for AI businesses to recognize the cultural industry as a partner for fair compensation and mutual growth. The ministry will continue to provide institutional and policy support to ensure the AI and cultural industries can achieve sustainable, mutual development."
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