What happened

The Korean Broadcasters Association (KBA) initiated a lawsuit claiming that Naver acquired and incorporated news articles from three broadcasters - KBS, MBC and SBS - into its AI models without obtaining prior consent, thereby violating South Korean copyright law and the country's Unfair Competition Prevention Act. 

The KBA argues that Naver's practices not only infringe on thee intellectual property rights of the three broadcasters behind the legal action, but also threaten their business interests by using their content without authorisation or compensation.

Why it happened

The underlying issue stems from the increasing reliance on news content for training AI systems, which raises significant legal and ethical questions about copyright and fair use. 

The KBA had issued notices in December 2023 to several technology companies, asserting that using news content for AI development requires explicit permission and compensation. 

Despite these warnings, Naver refused to disclose details of its data acquisition activities and allegedly proceeded with using the broadcasters' content without authorisation or compensation, exacerbating tensions and prompting the legal action.