As AI K-content production rapidly advances, South Korea faces urgent calls to establish robust institutional frameworks and regulations to protect copyrights, portrait rights, and creators. At a recent artificial intelligence film festival, actress and director Lee Jung-hyun expressed a mixture of awe and concern, noting that while generative AI significantly reduces production costs for rookie filmmakers, it also threatens the livelihoods of human actors.
Despite the fast-paced evolution of AI cinema, legal protections remain in a blind spot. Incidents where Chinese video AI models generate recognizable faces of Korean actors without permission highlight a lack of regulatory guardrails. In contrast, the European Union has enacted strict laws against unauthorized AI training, and US entertainment industries face mounting lawsuits against global big tech companies over intellectual property infringement.
Industry experts emphasize the need for transparent verification systems to ensure that AI-generated films do not utilize unauthorized third-party works or likenesses. In global markets, content guaranteed to be free of copyright disputes will likely emerge as a crucial competitive edge.
