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July 12, 2025
 

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COPYRIGHTS

A San Francisco District Court has ruled that Meta's use of copyrighted works to train its AI model was "transformative" enough to constitute "fair use" under copyright law, in the second such courtroom triumph for AI firms this week.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025
U.S. judge rules for Meta in AI training copyright case but says it isn't lawful
The ruling said the authors could have pitched a winning argument — that by training AI with copyrighted works, tech firms are creating competition in the marketplace.
Meta is at the center of accusations of copyright theft from authors over its "LibGen" online library.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 4, 2025
Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
Writer Gail Renard explained the situation by saying, "If you stole a diamond ring there'd be consequences and there has to be consequences."
The bus stop sign for the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka Station. The viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style images reflects both a longing for comfort in uncertain times and the ongoing debate over AI’s impact on art.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025
For a brief moment, everything was Ghibli
ChatGPT will make almost anything Ghibli-ish, but it won’t draw Totoro.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 2, 2025
Ghibli effect: ChatGPT usage hits record after rollout of viral feature
The viral trend saw users from across the globe flood social media with images based on the hand-drawn style of the famed Japanese animation outfit.
A screenshot of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Ghibli-style profile picture on X
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2025
Copyright questions loom as ChatGPT's Ghibli-style images go viral
The images raised questions about copyright infringement by OpenAI, which already faces lawsuits regarding the use of source material without permission.
The government adopted a bill to help prevent cases of human rights abuses and other malicious activities related to the use of artificial intelligence but without hindering businesses' willingness to develop the technology.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025
New bill lets government publicize names of firms who maliciously use AI
The bill doesn't include "excessive regulations" that could impede technological innovation, the science and technology policy minister said.
Film festivals around the world are giving space to AI-generated cinematic experiences, with Venice and Cannes among the heavy hitters with sections dedicated to "immersive" works, including those made using virtual and augmented reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2024
Asia’s film industry should balance AI with human creativity
AI is revolutionizing cinema. Japan and Asia as a whole are well-positioned to harness technology to empower storytelling while retaining film's essentially human nature.
The Cultural Affairs Agency in the city of Kyoto
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
Japan to use AI to tackle online manga and anime piracy
The Cultural Affairs Agency's plan will have AI scour the web for sites pirating manga books and anime, using an image and text detection system.
Generative artificial intelligence search technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 3, 2024
Japanese firms begin adopting generative AI for information searches
AI technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases and providing concise, natural-sounding answers.
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI employee, in San Francisco on Oct. 3. Balaji helped gather and organize the enormous amounts of internet data used to train the startup’s ChatGPT chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 24, 2024
Former OpenAI researcher says the company broke copyright law
Suchi Balaji is among the first employees to leave a major AI company and speak out against the way these companies use copyrighted data to create their technologies.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024
Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits
The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
Manga titles that have been uploaded onto Manga-Mura, a manga piracy website, on display in Tokyo in 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2024
Manga piracy website operator ordered to pay ¥1.7 billion to publishers
Kadokawa, Shueisha and Shogakukan said they hoped the lawsuit would help deter other manga piracy site operators from uploading content illegally.
The New York Times headquarters in New York. The New York Times has sued Microsoft and OpenAI for using its content to help develop artificial intelligence services, in a sign of the increasingly fraught relationship between the media and a technology that could upend the news industry.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2023
NYT sues Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement
While OpenAI has been sued by prominent authors, the suit is the first challenge to its practices by a major media organization.
Rapid improvements in image generation have spurred artists to push back on generative AI startups, which ingest vast troves of internet data in order to generate content like pictures or text.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 6, 2023
Dall-E 3 is so good it’s stoking a revolt against AI scraping
It hasn’t helped much that OpenAI’s new process for artists who want to exclude their data from the system is time-consuming and complex.
Speech-generating AI works by sifting through reams of data, categorizing how people speak then using an algorithm, to replicate human vocal patterns and speech characteristics.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2023
Whose voice is it anyway? Actors take on AI copycats
Artists around the world are joining forces to protect their jobs, and their souls, from the ramifications of AI that sounds just like them.
The fast-growing field of generative AI has raised novel intellectual property issues.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2023
AI-generated art cannot receive copyrights, U.S. court says
Only works with human authors can receive copyrights, a judge ruled Friday.
AI apps on a smartphone screen. In a joint statement, Japanese organizations said that current generative AI creates content based on the analysis of large amounts of data collected from the internet without the consent of and payments to copyright holders.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 17, 2023
Japanese publishers voice copyright concerns over generative AI
The statement said that Japan's copyright law is more favorable to AI learning than those of other countries.
Sony's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2023
Sony and other top music labels sue over Sinatra 78s stored online
The companies include a list of 2,749 recordings in the lawsuit, including songs by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2023
Organization founded to create guidelines for use of AI image generators
An AI-generated image tool allows users to create images based on written descriptions and learning from other images available online, including those made by artists.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2023
The music industry has an AI problem
“Heart on My Sleeve,” using AI generated voices of famous artists, was built by a bot and way too believable. Was it theft?
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
Air India crash report to offer peek into last seconds
Members of the Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft in Ahmedabad on June 14.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.

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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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