As IU And More Stars Become AI’s Victims, Korea To Announce AI Copyright Policy By The End Of 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to imitate the voices of famous celebrities. As stars are strongly opposed to the idea, the copyright discussion on Generative AI contents in Korea begins in earnest.

Although AI cover songs modeled after the voices of famous celebrities are being mass-produced in large quantities, it is difficult to punish them for copyright infringement under the current law.

According to the industry on August 17, a movement has been held in the U.S. to recognize the rights of celebrities regarding this. Attention is focusing on whether the AI technology will open a way for celebrities to earn profits and secure control over them.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has signed an AI voice contract with a digital voice licensing platform to prevent actors from using their voice carelessly. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has also negotiated the use of famous celebrities‘ voice by offering a large amount of money to them. Earlier, OpenAI delayed the release of the voice feature of “Chat GPT,” which had drawn backlash because it was very similar to the voice of celebrity Scarlett Johansson. Johansson said she was shocked and angry because it was very similar to her voice.

The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also started discussions on AI copyrights. Through this, the ministry said it will announce policy directions on AI copyrights by the end of this year.

With the advancement of AI technology, videos are being produced as if they were sung by the singer himself, and these videos are receiving hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.

In Korea, an AI video clip that made it look like IU singing “Bam Yang Gang,” originally sung by BIBI, has sparked controversy. Stars have complained of discomfort because AI covers are so similar to the real thing.

Singer Jang Yoon-jung said, “This is a bit serious. I’m getting goosebumps.” Park Myung-soo also worried, “I didn’t know it would be the same. What should we celebrities do?” An official from the music industry said, “There are many singers who are upset for reasons such as damage to the original song and copyright infringement.”

Source: Herald Economics