2022 Volume 21 Pages 14-27
In this paper, the author examines the legal theory concerning the determination of the existence and identity of the person depicted in computer graphics (CG), based on a lawsuit in which the applicability of CG images to child pornography was disputed. Under Japan’s child pornography regulations, which require the existence of the subject child, there is a difficulty in proving the existence of the child when she/he cannot be identified. Furthermore, with the development of technologies such as deepfake and virtual human that generate quite realistic images, it has become more difficult to prove the existence of the depicted person solely from the image or video expression itself. In light of such situation, the author pointed out the scope of this lawsuit and future issues regarding the legal evaluation of human figures in CG.
