🧠 Japanese Creators Demand an End to “Ghibli-fication” of Content
Japan’s trade association CODA (which includes Studio Ghibli) has sent an official request to OpenAI, demanding that the company stop using their copyrighted content to train AI models (such as Sora and ChatGPT) without permission.
The growing popularity of image and video generation “in the Ghibli style” has become a major reason for the complaint. CODA argues that such practices could be considered copyright infringement under Japanese law, which requires prior consent.
Although Studio Ghibli has not commented directly on the controversy, Hayao Miyazaki previously described AI-generated animation as “an insult to life itself.”
In the United States, copyright law — last updated in 1976 — remains unclear on this issue. However, CODA insists that in Japan, OpenAI’s “use first, apologize later” approach is unacceptable.
