[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] KBS, MBC, and SBS, the three major South Korean broadcasters, have filed a lawsuit against Naver for alleged copyright infringement involving news data. The broadcasters claim that Naver used their articles without permission to train its artificial intelligence (AI).

The three broadcasters, on Monday, filed a lawsuit against Naver, demanding damages for copyright infringement and violations of the unfair competition prevention law, as well as seeking an injunction to stop Naver from using their data for AI learning. They accuse Naver of using their articles to train its generative AI, "HyperClova" and "HyperClovaX," without consent.

The Korea Broadcasting Association (KBA), which represents 39 broadcasters including KBS, MBC, and SBS, had sent a letter in December 2023 warning both domestic and international tech companies, including Naver, Kakao, Google Korea, and Microsoft, about the unauthorized use of broadcasting content for AI learning. The KBA clarified that using news content, audio, and video from broadcasters for AI learning requires a separate compensation agreement, and using it without permission is prohibited.

The KBA's AI Task Force has previously requested compensation for the use of broadcasters' news data by Naver and measures to prevent further infringement, but it has not received a clear response. They also asked Naver to disclose the source, content, and acquisition method of the data used for AI learning. However, Naver rejected this request, stating that the details of the learning data are considered critical business assets and cannot be disclosed.

 

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