A partial amendment to the Library Act, which excludes "one-click publications" rapidly produced using generative artificial intelligence (AI) from library deposit requirements, passed the National Assembly plenary session on Monday.
Under the current law, even publications created with AI are subject to the deposit system, under which the National Library of Korea and the National Assembly Library pay compensation and house the materials. The rise of AI-generated publications aimed at collecting such compensation has been cited as a problem causing budget waste.
The amendment allows the director of the National Library of Korea to decline deposits of AI-generated publications after review by the Library Materials Deliberation Committee. It also establishes a legal basis for the state to recover deposit compensation that has been improperly obtained.
The amendment cleared the standing committee in March this year, after the chair of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee prepared an alternative bill based on proposals separately introduced by Democratic Party lawmakers Lee Hak-young and Lim Oh-kyeong, and People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee.
"The deposit system is designed to preserve intellectual assets, not to serve as a loophole for those seeking compensation," said Rep. Cho Eun-hee of the People Power Party, who introduced the amendment. "With AI publications set to increase even more rapidly going forward, we must tighten the system to prevent such loopholes and protect sincere publishing and research."
