EISYS Inc announced that DLsite will temporarily suspend the distribution and sale of AI works like manga and art on their website as of May 11, 2023. In the announcement, the company said that sales of AI-generated works in some genres will be suspended, while those works that partially use AI will continue to be offered in the platform. The decision was taken to protect the impact that AI-generated content had on artists. [Thanks, Game Watch!]
The DLsite restriction on AI-generated works includes manga, CG illustration art, videos, and other audiovisual resource collections. However, DLsite will continue to offer some works that contain some extent of AI-generated content when it comes to novels and games.
Additionally, EISYS also announced its decision to restrict the submission of AI works on Ci-en, a creator support platform service operated by the company. The AI ban on Ci-en applies to AI-generated manga, art, videos, and audiovisual resource collections.
DLsite is one of Japan’s biggest digital distribution websites, founded in 1996 by EISYS Inc. The platform specializes in the distribution and sale of manga, games, image sets, and audio distribution, with a particular focus on doujinshi (self-published content.) DLsite offers some content in English as well. While the site has come to be known for the distrubution of content aimed at adult audiences, there is also an All-Ages section available.
Some well-known works distributed through DLsite include the Japanese version of board video game 100% Orange Juice, Hatoful Boyfriend, and a number of Touhou Project fan games.
