AI-generated images and copyright issues

At the end of June, there were two uproar over AI-generated images and copyright issues, one showing signs of being nearly resolved while the other remains unresolved.

Case 1: Now showing signs of being mostly resolved.

Illustrator R3, who is active on X, asked his followers to help him report An AI image generator named Chikuwa Ai, as his illustrations were being abused by him.

The AI image generator is using an AI image generation tool called NovelAI, putting "ransusan"(=R3's name) in the prompt, outputting images in a style similar to this illustrator, posting them on Pixiv, and even selling the images on Booth (please note that this link contains 18 prohibited images).

In response, Chikuwa Ai posted a text on Pixiv.
(Incidentally, his Pixiv account has been deleted, so we cannot post a link to this text. Also, he does not seem to have an X account, so we cannot post a link to that account either.)

Afterwards, with the help of AI experts, R3 succeeded in fully reproducing the AI image generated by Chikuwa Ai.
Prompts with R3 artist name "ransusan" was found in all images that indicated a problem.

According to this screenshot, Chikuwa Ai appears to have approved the use of the “ransusan” tag. However, he seems to state that he learned that "ransusan" was the illustrator's name after the uproar.

Eventually, many of R3's followers and others who saw his post on X reported Chikuwa AI to Pixiv and Booth, which resulted in the deletion of Chikuwa Ai's Pixiv account and the hiding of the images that were for sale on Booth.

This example was spread so much on X that it became a trend and many posts are still being posted in response to it.

https://x.com/i/trending/1939518958463263018

Case 2: Still unresolved.

Illustrator ddudungddu, who is active on X, called attention to the followers, claiming that their art project "LACN" was being copied without permission by an NFT project called "Maidens" which is a new account created in June 2025, and we do not even know who the founder is.

In response to this post, Maidens claimed that it was not plagiarism, and suggested that the AI image generation tool he used may have trained LACN in the past.

ddudungddu and some of the followers reported Maidens on X, and X removed several Maidens images.

Maidens continued to post the allegedly plagiarized images on X.
ddudungddu posted on X that "their artwork was used without consent and confirmed copyright violation".

Maidens still has not changed its stance and is expected to launch an NFT collection to start sales if this continues.

Similarities of the two cases

・These two cases happened at the same time.

・In both cases, the illustrator's style was reproduced using AI and considered to be an attempt to use it for commercial purposes, and it is highly likely that the illustrator's name was used in the prompt.

Differences of the two cases

• Case 1:
  The setting are pixiv and booth. Both illustrators and AI image generators are Japanese speakers, and the audience is predominantly Japanese.
  Many voices here are trying to protect hand-drawn illustrators in a cultural context. For this reason, the AI image generator's Pixiv account is believed to have been deleted relatively quickly.
• Case 2:
  This is the furor over the two NFT collections.
  Of course, here, too, theft of copyrighted material is unacceptable, but only a limited number of people speak out in these cases, and the problem is very difficult to resolve and has been overlooked in most cases.

Summary

• The current NFT space is a hotbed of scammers, overflowing with crudely produced AI-generated images and illegal derivative collections.
• Hotbeds of scammers invite more scammers and less hand-drawn illustrators. If you find this to be a problem, please help the illustrators.