Where Is the Copyright of AI-Generated Music Headed? — The Current State of Commercial Use and Japan's Rights-Clearance Debate

As commercial use of AI-generated music spreads, how its copyright is handled is back in focus. Shifting platform terms and differing legal interpretations across countries are intersecting, forcing both creators and rights holders to sort things out.

Market research projects the generative-AI music market to grow from about USD 440 million in 2025 to roughly USD 570 million in 2026, an annual rate of around 28.5 percent. Major tools are also moving to grant commercial-use rights for generated music to paid-plan users.

Japan's Copyright Act treats "human creative involvement" as a condition for copyright to arise, so a track generated automatically by AI is, in principle, unlikely to be recognized as copyrightable. Debate also continues over the handling of training data and similarity to existing songs.

In practice, there is a growing need to clarify, at the contract stage, who owns the generated output, whether commercial use is permitted, and how credits are handled. Platform terms shift easily, so confirming the conditions at the time of use is essential.

Uncertainty in rights clearance surfaces as risk across distribution, sync and secondary use. When AI is built into a production flow, recording human involvement and operating with both the terms of use and domestic law in mind are required.

The ZEN editorial team believes the key is not whether to use AI, but designing production and distribution on the premise of rights clearance. ZEN CREATIVE LAB will continue to address these practical points.

Sources: Various market research reports, domestic copyright-practice commentary (2026)