Regulation, Law & GovernanceCopyright Subdivision of the Council for Cultural Affairs, Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Japan's copyright council finalizes its views on AI and copyright
Views on AI and copyright finalized — Article 30-4 of the Copyright Act applies only to non-enjoyment purposes, excluding cases where an enjoyment purpose coexists. Intentional overfitting, and additional training aimed at generating outputs similar to a group of works sharing a particular creator's creative expression, fall outside the exemption
Why it matters
The government drew, in writing, the actual limits of the provision that is cited internationally as making AI training free in Japan. Fine-tuning aimed at imitating an artistic style is not exempt
Source — Primary sources first; secondary reports are labelled “Press”
Officialbunka.go.jphttps://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkashingikai/chosakuken/pdf/94057901_01.pdfAdded in Week 35, 2026 · See that week