[Digital Today reporter Jin-ho Lee] Sixteen groups representing creators and copyright holders across cultural content fields voiced concerns over the draft "South Korea AI Action Plan" announced in December by the National AI Strategy Committee.

On Jan. 13, creator and rights-holder groups, including the Korea Music Copyright Association, issued a statement calling for the immediate withdrawal and a full review of Task 32 of the AI action plan, titled "Use of copyrighted works for AI training and evaluation and revitalisation of the distribution ecosystem."

The AI action plan announced by the committee on Dec. 15 includes a recommendation to revise related laws and systems, including the Copyright Act and the AI Basic Act, so AI models can use copyrighted works without uncertainty.

Through Task 32, the committee recommended that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism prepare a revision to the Copyright Act by the second quarter of this year to address legal uncertainty over the use of copyrighted works in AI training. It also recommended that the Ministry of Science and ICT prepare a revision to the AI Basic Act or a bill to enact a special AI law.

The groups said, "The government’s AI action plan is not only an attempt to fundamentally undermine copyright as a private property right, but also a declaration that it is abandoning the sustainability of South Korea’s cultural industry."

They cited four reasons for opposing it. They said the Copyright Act aims to balance protecting creators’ rights with use, but is based on encouraging creation through fair compensation. They said the government plan excessively expands the scope of fair use for private companies’ profit-making purposes and infringes copyright as a private property right.

They also criticised the plan as "deceiving creators by putting forward global trends." They said the current international direction is to make clear that permission from copyright holders is needed for AI training and to strengthen transparency of training data, but the government’s push for immunity for commercial purposes by citing exceptional cases in some countries distorts the facts.

They said even the "fair use guidelines" prepared by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have drawn criticism for insufficient protection of creators, and that moving to create legal immunity provisions in just a few months is a policy that represents only the interests of AI companies.

They also voiced concern about the effectiveness of an opt-out approach with high technical barriers. They argued that requiring creators to indicate refusal in a machine-readable format as a condition for protection is effectively no different from forcing individual creators without capital and technical capabilities to give up their rights.

An official of the creator and rights-holder groups said they plan to continue a strong response until the government changes its policy direction to a sustainable AI development strategy that protects creators’ rights and is based on fair compensation.

The statement was joined by the Korea Independent PD Association, Korea Digital Content Creators Association, Korea Literary Arts Copyright Association, Korea Fine Arts Association, Korea TV Writers Association, Korea Broadcasting Performers' Rights Association, Korea Broadcasters Association, Korea Scenario Writers Union, Korea Scenario Writers Association, Korea Choreography Copyright Association, Korea Entertainment Producers Association, Recording Industry Association of Korea, Korea Music Performers Federation, Korea Music Copyright Association, Writers Association of Korea and Together Music Copyright Association.