In Japan, authorities have arrested two men accused of violating the Copyright Law by creating and selling indecent posters generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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The defendants, a 36-year-old employee from Yokohama and a 40-year-old freelancer from Shiga, used the technology to generate explicit images of female characters from “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” .
According to police, the men used an AI tool to create the waifu illustrations and then printed the posters to sell them through online auctions. The investigation began after authorities identified these illegal sales during online surveillance operations.
The profits obtained by the Yokohama man would have raised about 10 million yen (more than R$320,000) between May 2023 and March 2024, while the Shiga resident earned approximately 5.7 million yen (more than R$180,000) between July 2023 and April 2024. Confronted with the evidence, the defendants confessed to the crimes, claiming that the money was used to cover personal expenses.
This case sparked debate about the misuse of AI to create and market explicit content, especially related to anime characters. The practice raises questions about the ethical and legal limits of using the technology to create derivative works. After all, as many point out, this issue is not new in the digital world, but the ease afforded by AI heightens concerns.
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