Organize the Issues in 3 Stages
The AI-and-copyright debate is easily confused, so it's clearer to split it into (1) the training-data stage, (2) the output stage, (3) the publication/use stage.
(1) Training-Data Stage
Japan
Copyright Act Art. 30-4 allows use without rightsholders' consent "when provided for information analysis." One of the most permissive countries for AI training. But the enjoyment purpose (purpose of appreciation) is out of scope, and the training act and use at output are judged separately.
US
Fair-use principle. Under individual judgment in NYT v. OpenAI, etc. If verbatim reproduction occurs, possible infringement finding.
Confirmed in 2026: case law is taking shape. The authors' class action against Anthropic settled for about US$1.5B (≈US$3,000 per work) after a ruling that training on books is fair use but storing pirated copies is not. Thomson Reuters v. Ross was found not fair use and is on appeal; Disney/Universal v. Midjourney is ongoing. Output generated purely by AI is not registrable for copyright in the US (upheld by federal and circuit courts; the Supreme Court denied cert in 2026). In the EU, AI Act high-risk enforcement begins in August 2026, and GPAI providers must publish training-data summaries and a copyright-compliance policy.
