Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance and RightsDirect Japan Announce the Availability of AI Re-Use Rights for Digital Copyright License

DANVERS, Mass.--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- The Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance (JAC), in collaboration with RightsDirect Japan , a subsidiary of CCC (Copyright Clearance Center), today announced the availability of artificial intelligence (AI) re-use rights within the Digital Copyright License (DCL), an enterprise-wide content licensing solution offering rights from millions of works to businesses.

The JAC DCL enables companies with headquarters in Japan to share and store content internally within their organizations and simplifies efforts to comply with copyright laws, providing rights not normally included in subscription agreements across a wide range of publishers, academic societies, and other copyright holders around the world covering works published in English, Japanese, and many other languages.

The inclusion of AI re-use rights makes the JAC DCL the leading collective licensing solution for the internal use of copyrighted materials in AI systems for companies headquartered in Japan. The license provides companies with an efficient way to legally acquire the rights to use copyrighted materials within AI systems for internal uses.

“There is no consistent standard for how copyrighted materials can be used in AI technologies across borders from country to country,” said Tracey Armstrong, President and CEO of CCC. “A license is the best way to comply with copyright laws, avoid potentially lengthy and costly legal disputes, and ensure that the current and future uses of works and of the outputs of the AI do not create legal and business risks for organizations.”

“Surveys indicate that knowledge workers across industries are adopting AI tools and using them with published content for a variety of tasks such as summarization, information extraction, and automated reviews,” said Toshimichi Ishijima, Secretary General, JAC. “In the absence of an appropriate license, these activities create the potential for copyright infringement risk.”

JAC manages and administers copyrights on behalf of academic organizations and, through bilateral agreements, foreign countries as a member of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO).

RightsDirect provides advanced information and data integration solutions to organizations throughout Europe and Asia. Established in Amsterdam in 2010, the RightsDirect team collaborates closely with reproduction rights organizations (RRO) worldwide to develop licensing and content solutions that facilitate global copyright management. In 2014, RightsDirect expanded to Japan to strengthen relationships with RROs there and explore opportunities to jointly advance copyright solutions for the Japanese business community with JAC, based on the bilateral agreement between CCC and JAC.

CCC advocates for copyright worldwide by engaging governments, stakeholders, and individuals with educational programming , thought leadership resources , and through its online hub, AI, Copyright & Licensing . Since 1978, CCC has supported content users by providing efficient, harmonized licensing solutions that cover their internal uses of content. CCC’s portfolio of non-exclusive voluntary collective licensing solutions includes ACL for Business , Multinational Copyright License (MCL) for Business, ACL for Higher Education , ACL for Curriculum & Instruction , and ACL for Student Assessments . In addition to licensing solutions, CCC provides one-stop access for users to request, receive, and pay for full-text content and permissions to re-use content.

About JAC
JAC is a licensing body in Japan as defined by the Law on Management Business of Copyright and Neighboring Rights, which came into force in October 2001. JAC was set up in 1989 by four academic societies. JAC operates under voluntary collective licensing and it represents 974 domestic rightholders, more than 90% of which are academic associations. JAC represents the rightsholders’ reproduction rights and reuse rights in academic related works and grant licenses. The licensing revenue is distributed to rightsholders JAC represents after deduction of predetermined administration fees.

JAC’s mission is to contribute to the development of academic societies by making it easy for our users to get and use content worldwide as obtaining permission to use copyrighted works is complicated, while protecting the legitimate interests of rightsholders.

About CCC
A pioneer in voluntary collective licensing, CCC advances copyright, accelerates knowledge, and powers innovation. With expertise in copyright, data quality, data analytics, and FAIR data implementations, CCC and its subsidiary RightsDirect collaborate with stakeholders on innovative solutions to harness the power of data and AI.

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