An association run by Japanese media outlets said on Wednesday that artificial intelligence-powered search engines offered by U.S. tech giants such as Google and Microsoft are likely to infringe copyrights.
In a statement, the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association called on companies operating such services to obtain consent from news organizations, as search results often resemble articles that have been quoted without permission.
The association analyzed that AI search engines can return inaccurate answers by inappropriately reusing or modifying articles, and stressed that companies need to ensure accuracy and reliability before launching their services.
The association also called on the Japanese government to immediately review and revise intellectual property-related laws, including the Copyright Act.
Combining the functionality of traditional search engines with generative AI, AI search engines pull information from multiple sites and display summarized responses to user queries. Google launched the service last year.
In a statement, the association argued that while traditional search engines direct users to various copyrighted content available online, AI search engines are an entirely different type of service as they make content public.
The association emphasized that in many cases, important content from referenced articles is reproduced in its entirety, amounting to copyright infringement, but also pointed out the problem of “zero-click searches” in which users do not visit the source site.
They warned that reduced traffic could lead to reduced reporting activities by media organisations, which could have a negative impact on democracy and culture.
The statement also expressed concern that the answers generated by AI search engines might contain inaccuracies, which could give the impression that the source article itself is wrong and undermine the credibility of the news organization.
The association added that providing an AI search engine service without obtaining permission to use original articles may violate antitrust laws.
In a report last fall, the Fair Trade Commission pointed out that companies that operate search engines that serve as gateways to news sites could gain a dominant position over media companies, and warned that charging fees for the use of articles too low could lead to legal problems.
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