Multiple interviews with people familiar with the publishing industry established that Nippan Group Holdings, a publishing distributor, had acknowledged to the Japan Book Publishers Association that it sold books to a US AI company. The article also addresses related issues, including the use of books as training data for generative AI.
Interviews with multiple people in the publishing industry established that Nippan had acknowledged selling books to a US AI company. The Japan Book Publishers Association, for its part, had sought confirmation of the facts.
This development has been reported as preliminary information on the nature of transactions conducted by one of the publishing industry's major distributors, but the article does not specify the timing or scope of the transactions. It reports only that Nippan's involvement was confirmed through interviews with multiple parties.
The article cites Norwegian Wood as an example of a book provided as training data for generative AI, and also discusses the impact on the author and the Japanese market, along with the settlement amount paid by the US AI company and the background to the settlement.
In connection with this topic, readers are being asked questions in an opinion section about strengthening AI regulation and monitoring systems, as well as strengthening self-regulation.