- Updated GPT-4O includes deeper training on a “variety of image styles”
- Users have created images reproducing the studio hand -drawn look Ghibli
- The gaves them raise legal and ethical questions about the work of living artists
Tl; Dr What is the debate?
Fans use the latest generative model of Openai to create images that imitate the distinctive style drawn by hand from the Japanese animation studio Ghibli. The creatives wondered if it was ethical, because artists such as the founder of Studio Hayao Miyazaki are still alive. Legal experts suggest that the style itself is not protected, but its use could be.
If you are used to X or Instagram, there is a good chance that your flow was flooded this week by images that look like scenes from Fiery. But these imitation animations are not the work of the famous Japanese company studio Ghibli: they are Chatgpt. And that has copyright experts who sound the alarm.
Barely a few days ago, Openai published the latest version of GPT-4O, the AI generator model that underlies Chatgpt. This update has introduced a more precise text rendering, the possibility of understanding more complex prompts and – above all – a deeper formation on a “variety of image styles”.
In the hours that followed the update, fans used Chatgpt to create images that imitated the artistic style of the different animations. The most common type of leisure? Makes the who looked like a strange resemblance to the dreamy aesthetics and drawn by the work of the work of the Ghibli studio.
Users have given Ghibli treatment to everything, from popular memes to political figures. But with Chatgpt now apparently capable of reproducing such an emblematic look with ease, there are serious prohibition points on legality – and morality – of its use. Does Ghibli’s enthusiasm hit copyright? And is it ethical to imitate a living artist? We interviewed expert lawyers and broken down all the problems of this brief explanator.
The debate: users flood social media with memes ghibli generated by AI
The fan art is nothing new. As long as there have been entertainment, fans have created replicas of works of art. These community creations are generally tolerated by animation houses such as Ghibli studio, as long as they are not used for commercial purposes. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, after all.
The last GPT-4O of Openai update changes this. Now anyone can generate or transform an image into a Ghibli- style scene. What would have already taken hours can now be done in a few seconds. Users can imitate art styles without any appreciation of the effort he would make to an experienced animator to create the same scene.
Ghibli style memes taking internet control 😅 pic.twitter.com/96v8ip8ezxMarch 27, 2025
On the one hand, this opens the field to users who wish to create their own fan art but do not have the required skills. On the other, it undoubtedly reduces the value and originality of the source material. The images circulating on social networks faithfully reproduce the Ghibli look, without a single human artist being involved.
Chatgpt ability to channel the visual language of animation houses such as Ghibli studio makes it a powerful creative tool for fans. But there is also a moral dimension: some could see an imitation as easy as an affront to the heritage drawn by hand of the studio, especially when applied to memes.
The founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, is known for his tiny approach by frame of animation. The studio has spent more than a year The wind rises. In a 2016 documentary, Miyazaki described the animation generated by Ai as “an insult to life itself”.
Then there are legal issues. Many visuals seen on social media effectively devote the Ghibli look. Because he is capable of such a faithful mimicry, some have wondered if they violate the copyright of the studio.
Awesome. The Ghibli style will now become sunsaturated and associated with lazy and boring content – I can’t wait for children to grow up thinking that Ghibli’s films are generated by AI and instead of art made by excellent artists https://t.co/yfouirlyamMarch 27, 2025
Copyright generally does not protect a visual style as such. Thus, the dreamers’ history, the oversized eyes and the fanciful creatures which are characteristics of the entertainment of Ghibli studio are probably not covered. Unless the Chatppt reproduces a specific character or scene, it could be difficult to prove counterfeit.
There is also the question of training data. OPENAI did not specifically reveal which image assets have been used to form the latest version of its GPT-4O model. He only specifies that a “wide variety of image styles” appeared in training data. Without more information, it is impossible to say if the model has been trained directly on Ghibli frames protected by copyright – or if AI has simply learned to imitate the aesthetics of derivatives accessible to the public, such as the existing fan art.
But here is the verdict today of lawyer experts in copyright in the place where all this could be directed.
Reality: style is not legally protected, but its use could be
We asked Chris Mammen, IP liter and a managing partner of the San Francisco office for Womble Bond Dickinson, for his expert information. “The Copyright Act in the United States does not protect ideas or styles,” explains Mammen. “An artist creating a work” in the style of “another artist has been performing for centuries”.
According to Mammen, AI tools such as chatgpt modify two important factors with regard to fan art creations: “(a) the scale, volume and speed with which new works can be generated, and (b) the fidelity with which these new works generated quickly can imitate the style of the original.”
Although the style of Ghibli’s animations is not covered by copyright, the studio could have other routes to protect its intellectual property. Mammen continues: “If someone had to represent that one of these images created by Genai is, in fact, a Ghibli studio product, then this could give rise to questions, such as the false designation of origin, under brands and unfair competition.”
What is clear is that the AI tools will continue to give rise to new problems around the rules and gray areas involved in the derivative and generative content. “These problems really test the limits of copyright and other intellectual property laws,” explains Mammen.
These observations echo those of Matthew Sag, professor of law at Emory University who studies copyright law and artificial intelligence, who recently declared to Business Insider: “Openai has made a fairly judicious decision to say” We will stop producing images in the style of lives “not because it is a violation of copyright, but”, he said. Studios, however, are a different question.
Ask Techradar’s comment, an Openai spokesperson said: “Our goal is to give users as much freedom as possible.
With tools such as Chatgpt and Openai Sora that progress so quickly, law enforcers and policies rush to follow the thorny problems that arise on intellectual property accordingly. As Mammen concludes, “defenders on both sides of the question argue for legal reform”.
