Shifts in the copyright conflict within Korean broadcasting due to collaboration between KBS and Naver AI
In a surprising turn of events, South Korea's public broadcaster KBS and tech giant Naver have signed a collaboration agreement on July 24, 2023. This partnership aims to explore next-generation media workflows powered by generative AI, marking a significant shift in the ongoing copyright battle between broadcasters and AI firms.
The lawsuit filed by KBS, along with MBC and SBS, against Naver earlier this year for copyright violations and unauthorized use of broadcast news footage to train AI models, has taken a new twist with this collaboration. While other broadcasters are suing Naver, KBS's partnership with the tech company presents a strategic effort to harness AI technology collaboratively rather than confrontationally.
The core concern of the broadcasters centers on the potential unfair competition from AI systems trained on their content. Lee Sung-min, an associate professor, stated that the broadcasters are wary of the potential decline in news traffic and disruption of their established business model. However, KBS's partnership with Naver is seen as offering an alternative approach that blends media content creation with AI development.
Under the terms of the agreement, KBS will supply its content and educational resources, while Naver will provide its AI technology solutions. KBS will use Naver's video analysis tool, MAIU, to mine archival programming, including "Screening Humanity." The extracted content will be reimagined into new formats using HyperClova X, Naver's in-house generative AI model.
The collaboration may also involve generating AI-assisted documentary dramas focused on modern Korean history. Future collaborations may include developing disaster response tools, AI-generated subtitles, and descriptive audio tracks.
A dedicated working group will be formed to map out ways to weave AI into the entire content pipeline. According to Lee, the lawsuit may be a strategy to bring issues related to the legitimate use of content and potential AI news usage fees to the negotiating table with Naver.
However, an anonymous broadcaster official stated that the Naver-KBS collaboration could be seen as an attempt to weaken the broader legal effort against copyright violations. The likelihood of a collective resolution has diminished due to the Naver-KBS partnership, casting further uncertainty over the lawsuit's prospects.
AI development is increasingly leaning toward models that rely on real-time web search, which will inevitably pull from broadcasters' news output. Broadcasters aren't necessarily opposed to AI, but they are concerned about the potential exploitation of their copyrighted content without proper compensation. The Naver-KBS collaboration may signal a shift in the industry, with individual agreements becoming a more common path toward a workable solution.
This dynamic underscores the evolving tensions and strategies in South Korea’s media sector over AI training data rights and collaborative technology development. As the industry continues to adapt to the rise of AI, it remains to be seen how these tensions will be resolved and what impact this will have on the future of broadcasting in South Korea.
[1] Source: The Korea Herald, "South Korean broadcasters sue Naver over AI model training" [2] Source: Yonhap News, "KBS, Naver to collaborate on AI technology, content creation"
The Naver-KBS collaboration, contrary to the ongoing lawsuit regarding copyright violations, presents an alternative approach where both parties ally to harness AI technology collaboratively. This partnership could signal a shift in the industry, with individual agreements becoming a more common path toward a workable solution (The Korea Herald).
Under this partnership, KBS will provide content and educational resources, while Naver will offer AI technology solutions, including their video analysis tool and generative AI model, HyperClova X (Yonhap News).
