Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Intellectual PropertyCopyrightsThe Intellectual Property StrategistFeatures

ChatGPT’s Ghibli-Style Images Are Testing Copyright Law

By Saishruti Mutneja and Raghav Gurbaxani
April 30, 2025

Last month, a flood of whimsical, dreamlike portraits in the style of Studio Ghibli (the Japanese animation studio) swept across social media. OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o had rolled out a new image-generation feature — allowing users to simply describe a scene, like “my family as characters in a Ghibli movie,” and receive AI-generated art in seconds. One such post, a family portrait rendered in the beloved aesthetic of “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” two iconic films by Studio Ghibli known for their lush, hand-drawn visual style, went viral with over 27 million views. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later quipped that the servers were “melting” from demand. In fact, the once-instant Chat-GPT is providing estimates of 24-48 hours to generate Ghibli-style images.

These “Ghibli-style” images — which captured the studio’s distinct, nostalgic fantasy look — spread rapidly as users turned family photos, travel scenes, and pets into what looked like frames from a high-end animated film. What began as a playful social trend quickly raised legal concerns. Within days, users began reporting that OpenAI had restricted prompts referencing specific artistic styles, including Studio Ghibli. While the company did not formally announce the change, this shift appeared to reflect a cautious response to potential intellectual property issues. This trend offers a live case study of how generative AI may implicate core doctrines of copyright law, including derivative works, substantial similarity, and fair use.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.