Culture
ShiroManta: LEON representative apologizes for AI use
The streamer admits he used an illustration he received for an AI-generated graphic and initially gave the manga artist false information about it.
Streamer LEON representative has admitted that he used an illustration by manga artist ShiroManta for an AI-created graphic and gave the artist false information when first asked about it. The dispute concerns a logo for the RUST event "DEATH GAME," held at the end of August.
ShiroManta, known as the author and illustrator of My Senpai Is Annoying, published a notice on X on September 2. In it, he asks that his illustrations not be used for creating event logos or other AI-generated images without consultation. Anyone wishing to use his drawings for a project should instead request them through the regular channels.
LEON representative confirms AI use
On September 3, the public apology from LEON representative followed. In it, the streamer confirms that he used an illustration received from ShiroManta in an AI-assisted process. At the same time, he admits that he initially gave ShiroManta an incorrect explanation after the event.
Japanese reports reconstruct that the graphic in question was used as the logo of the RUST event. The controversy therefore arose not only from the use of generative AI, but also from the fact that a work by a specific artist was incorporated into this process without prior consent, and that the subsequent inquiry was initially not answered correctly.
Which AI software was used and how exactly the illustration was technically processed does not emerge from the statements published so far. Likewise, no further legal dispute has currently been announced.
The case adds to the ongoing debate about generative AI and the handling of illustrations. Unlike abstract questions about training data, this concerns a clearly named, already existing drawing and the consent of its creator to its specific reuse.