The Japanese government has submitted a formal request asking OpenAI to stop copyright infringement (which it reports ITMedia). This is in response to Sora 2’s ability to generate videos featuring likenesses of copyrighted anime and video game characters.
Sora 2, which OpenAI launched on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second 1080p videos with audio. Shortly after its release, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which featured depictions of copyrighted characters, including characters from popular anime and game franchises such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon and Mario.
Speaking at a press conference of the Cabinet of the Government of Japan on Friday, Minoru Kiuchi (Minister of State for Intellectual Property and AI Strategy) informed the audience about the government’s request, which called on the American organization to refrain from violating Japanese intellectual property rights. The application was reportedly submitted online by the Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters. Kiuchi then described manga and anime as “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan can show off to the world.
Other Japanese politicians, such as Digital Affairs Minister Masaaki Taira, have expressed hope that OpenAI will take voluntary action to comply with the request, pointing out that if the issue remains unresolved, measures under Japan’s Artificial Intelligence Promotion Act could be applied.
Fully implemented as of September 1, 2025, Japan’s Artificial Intelligence Promotion Law aims to make Japan the most “AI-friendly country” by guiding policies to promote the development and employ of artificial intelligence for socio-economic growth. However, it also sets out certain rules for dealing with problematic uses of artificial intelligence, including copyright infringement. Article 16 The Law on the Promotion of Artificial Intelligence covers research and investigation and states that the government may “analyze cases where the rights or interests of citizens have been violated by research, development or use of technology related to artificial intelligence, carried out for inappropriate purposes or using inappropriate methods, and consider remedial measures based on these analyses.” However, as he noticed The future of the Privacy Forumthe act does not specify clear penalties for the improper employ of artificial intelligence, and even calls on entrepreneurs to do so cooperate with these measures.
A member of Japan’s ruling LDP party and a member of the country’s parliament (the Diet), politician Akihisa Shiozaki has written extensively on Sora 2 and its legal ramifications for his official X account, AND excellent: “The release of Sora 2 has once again highlighted the issue of artificial intelligence and copyright.”
However, he also emphasized that this challenge is an opportunity: “Japan has a responsibility to take a leading role in creating regulations (related to artificial intelligence and copyright infringement) precisely because we are the country that has captivated the world with the creative power of anime, games and music.”
Reuters reported On September 29, OpenAI contacted studios and talent agencies a week before the release of Sora 2, giving them the opportunity to opt out. However, it was not specified which studios were contacted. It’s unclear whether major Japanese companies and original studios have been contacted, but the fact that Sora 2 can generate videos containing likenesses of Japanese characters has sparked a lot of reaction on Japanese-language social media. Criticism has been aimed not only at OpenAI, but also at the Japanese government and Japanese intellectual property rights owners for their alleged failure to respond quickly enough to AI infringement threats.
In his Blog entry from October 4 on Sora 2 (previously as reported by IGN), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said changes will be made to the fledgling video-generating app in the near future. “First, we will provide rights holders with more granular control over character generation, similar to the opt-in similarity model, but with additional controls,” Altman confirmed, adding that OpenAI will give rights holders “the ability to determine how their characters can be used (including at all).”
He acknowledged that there may be “some extreme cases” of portrayals of characters getting out of control, but that this will be corrected over time. Altman also made specific reference to Japan, saying, “We would especially like to acknowledge Japan’s extraordinary creative output – we are blown away by how deep the connection is between users and Japanese content!”
However, as of this writing, there has been no formal response from OpenAI to the Japanese government’s latest request.
Earlier this month, Nintendo took an unusual step and issued an official statement that appeared to be in response to comments by Satoshi Asano, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives. In a since-deleted social media post, for which he subsequently apologized, Asano accused Nintendo of “avoiding the use of generative AI to protect its intellectual property” and “engaging in lobbying activities against the government” over the increased employ of generative AI in the gaming industry.
Nintendo denied this but warned it would take “necessary action against infringements of our intellectual property rights.”
“Contrary to recent online discussions, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government regarding generative artificial intelligence,” he added. Nintendo stated. “Regardless of whether we are dealing with generative AI or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringements of our intellectual property rights.”
Disney and Universal have sued AI image maker Midjourney, accusing it of misusing and distributing AI-generated characters from its films. Disney also sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI, warning the startup to stop using its copyrighted characters without permission.
“A lot of the videos that people will generate of these cartoon characters will be copyright infringements,” said Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School CNBC. “This leaves OpenAI exposed to multiple copyright lawsuits.”
Last month, famously controversial The Pokémon Company formally responded to the Department of Homeland Security’s employ of Pokémon TV character Ash Ketchum and the show’s theme tune with a video showing people being arrested and handcuffed by law enforcement officers. “Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content,” a spokesperson told IGN, “and no permission has been given to use our intellectual property.”
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who was previously the editor, contributor and translator of the gaming news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and films for various publications.
