1. General Policy

This policy applies to works and other materials created, published or provided by Seiichi Sato under the artist name “aratama 璞” in which Seiichi Sato owns or administers the copyright or other applicable rights.

All materials covered by this policy, whether publicly available or unpublished, are protected under applicable copyright and other laws.

Except where permitted by law, covered materials may not be reproduced, republished, modified, exhibited, transmitted or made available to the public, distributed, commercialized or otherwise used without the permission of the relevant rights holder.

Where prior written permission has been granted or a contractual agreement has been entered into, the materials may be used only within the scope and subject to the conditions of that permission or agreement. Please contact us in advance if you wish to use any of the covered materials.

In the case of collaborative works, materials provided by third parties, works for which rights have been transferred or other materials subject to specific rights arrangements, the applicable laws and individual agreements will take precedence over this policy.

2. Materials Covered by This Policy

This policy covers the following forms of expression and other materials in which Seiichi Sato owns or administers the copyright or other applicable rights:

• Images, videos, animations, music, audio recordings, characters, written content and designs
• World-building, composition, direction and editing as specifically expressed in a work
• Project plans, proposals, production materials and research outputs
• Creative expression produced through workflows that include generative AI
• Unreleased materials, experiments, drafts and prototypes
• Other materials protected under applicable copyright or other laws

Ideas, concepts, styles, production methods, workflows, know-how and structures are not necessarily protected by copyright in and of themselves. However, materials and outputs in which they are expressed in a specific form may qualify for copyright protection and may also be protected by contract, confidentiality obligations, unfair competition laws or other applicable laws.

3. Registration of Rights Information

For certain covered works, rights information may be managed through the rights information registration system for individual creators and others operated by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, or through other rights information registration and management services.

Registration through these services is not a requirement for copyright protection. Copyright arises under applicable law when a copyrightable work is created.

The purpose of registering rights information is to identify the relevant rights holder and applicable conditions of use, and to facilitate appropriate use, permission and licensing arrangements.

4. Works Created Using Generative AI

Some works by aratama 璞 are created using generative AI as part of the production process.

Depending on the work, the creative process may involve human creative judgment, editing and evaluation, including:

• Developing the concept and creative intent
• Designing the expressive structure, world-building and direction
• Designing and refining prompts, source materials and generation parameters
• Selecting, comparing, editing and recomposing generated outputs
• Combining multiple AI tools, models and production methods
• Iterative generation, evaluation and refinement
• Manual editing, compositing, adjustment, correction and final creative decision-making

Whether an output created using generative AI qualifies for copyright protection, and the extent of any such protection, will be assessed individually under applicable law based on the human creative intent and contribution involved, the specific expression contained in the output and other relevant circumstances.

This policy does not assert that copyright exists in every output solely because generative AI was used in its creation.

Our approach to generative AI and copyright is guided by applicable law and relevant materials published by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, including its General Understanding on AI and Copyright in Japan.

Reference: General Understanding on AI and Copyright in Japan | Agency for Cultural Affairs

5. Conditions of Use

Commercial Use

Prior permission and, where appropriate, a written agreement are required for use in advertising, products, promotional materials, events, services or for any other commercial purpose.

Exhibitions, Screenings and Performances

Prior written permission is required to exhibit, screen, stream, perform or otherwise present a work, except where such permission is not required under applicable law.

Reposting on Social Media and Other Platforms

Unauthorized reproduction or reposting on social media, websites or other media is not permitted. This does not apply to quotations or other uses permitted under applicable copyright law.

AI Training and Data Use

Except where permitted by law, covered works or materials may not be collected or used for any of the following purposes without prior written permission:

• Training, fine-tuning or evaluating machine-learning systems or AI models
• Creating training, testing or evaluation datasets
• Generating embeddings, features or other machine-readable data
• Large-scale collection, scraping or similar forms of data acquisition or use
• Reproducing or imitating a particular work, form of expression or artistic style

Nothing in this policy is intended to restrict any use permitted under applicable copyright or other laws.

6. Use Under Licence or Agreement

Use of the covered works and materials may be subject to a written agreement where appropriate.

When permission is granted, the relevant agreement or permission document will specify the work covered, the purpose of use, media, duration, territory, whether modifications are permitted, whether sublicensing is permitted, any secondary uses and other applicable conditions.

Use beyond the agreed scope is not permitted. Any proposed additional use or change to the agreed conditions must be discussed and approved in advance.

Nothing in this policy prevents the use of works under a lawful licence, collaboration agreement, commissioned-work agreement or other valid contract.

7. Response to Unauthorized Use and Infringement

If unauthorized use or an infringement of rights is identified, the relevant facts and rights will be reviewed. Depending on the circumstances, one or more of the following actions may be taken:

• Requesting removal, suspension of publication or cessation of use
• Requesting information regarding how and to what extent the material has been used
• Requesting the correction or remediation of inaccurate or improper content
• Seeking damages or pursuing other claims
• Taking legal action where appropriate

Appropriate action may also be taken under applicable law in response to the dissemination of false information, conduct that harms reputation or credibility, or other unlawful acts.

Nothing in this policy limits the exercise of any rights or remedies available under copyright law, moral rights, unfair competition law, civil law or any other applicable law.

8. Contact

For enquiries regarding permission to use a work, contractual arrangements, collaborations, commercialization, licensing or related matters, please contact us using the form below.

Contact form: https://aratama.io/en/contact/