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Leading Japanese entertainment companies, including Studio Ghibli, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix, are escalating their fight against OpenAI’s use of copyrighted material for AI training. The Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), representing these studios, is demanding that OpenAI cease using their intellectual property to train models like Sora 2. CODA asserts that the act of replicating copyrighted content for machine learning purposes inherently violates Japanese copyright law, particularly when the resulting AI generates derivative works featuring copyrighted characters. This stance comes after the Japanese government formally requested OpenAI to refrain from replicating Japanese artwork. Although OpenAI has signaled a willingness to modify Sora’s opt-out policy, CODA contends that any opt-out system is insufficient, as Japanese law typically requires explicit prior authorization for such usage. CODA is insisting that OpenAI thoroughly address existing copyright concerns and completely halt the unauthorized use of Japanese IP – encompassing both the training data and the AI-generated output of models like Sora.