China Courts Delivers First AIGC Copyright Infringement Judgment in Jiangsu Province
Published 28 March 2025
Fei Dang
On March 7, 2025, the People’s Court of Changshu in Jiangsu Province announced that it concluded a copyright dispute involving the AI Generated Content (AIGC), which is the first case of such type in Jiangsu Province.
It is reported that the plaintiff, who is an individual, created a picture work by using AI software, as well as further editing with Photoshop. The said work was named “伴心” (meaning companion heart), which is a red heart composed of a water drop and its reflection on the water surface and means that love is complete because of companionship. The plaintiff published the work on the Red Note and applied for copyright registration in April 2023.
The defendant 1, a technology company in Hangzhou, published on its social media account the installation videos and images of a love balloon module, which is highly similar to the said copyrighted work. Then, the defendant 2, a property company, used the said work in their own promotional article on their WeChat account, and established a 3-D device which was a half-hearted balloon contained in the plaintiff’s work in their developed area.
The plaintiff considered their actions had infringed its copyright and therefore brought a lawsuit to the Court against the said two defendants, and requested the two defendants to apologize on the Red Note for.three days, as well as compensate for the economic loss and reasonable fees.
According to the Court, it confirmed that the asset and rights of the picture work generated by the Midjourney Software belong to the user upon examination of the Midjourney Software Users Agreement and also examined during the trial the login process and user’s information, as well as the iterative process for the picture work, such as cue word modification. The Court considered that the plaintiff’s modification to the cue word and the picture details with image processing software shows its unique selection and arrangement, and the picture generated therefrom possesses creativity, which falls into the category of the work protected by the Copyright Law. Thus, the two defendants’ online broadcasting of the said picture without authorization has infringed the plaintiff’s copyright. The Court also recognized that the plaintiff’s copyright should only be limited to the said picture, whereas the physical device established by the defendant property company is merely a device based on a “heart”; thus, such establishment has not infringed the plaintiff’s copyright, which avoids the overprotection and abuse of the copyright.
In a word, the Court ordered the infringers to apologize to the plaintiff on their Xiao Hong Shu account for three consecutive days and compensate the plaintiff’s economic loss and reasonable fees amounting to RMB 10,000. The said judgment has come into effect.
[Comment]
According to Judge Hu Yue from the People’s Court of Changshu, this case confirms that a creator can own copyright to a work created with AI tools, assuming that the creator has innovative design expressions, which will greatly motivate creators to use AI tools to make creative work. On the other hand, the Court is careful to avoid the overprotection and abuse of the copyright by recognizing that “the act of using the ideas and thoughts of another's work does not constitute copyright infringement.” Thus, it can be seen that the Court weighs between motivating innovation by recognizing that users of AI tools can be benefit from the Copyright Law and preventing of right abuse by setting the boundaries of the rights.
It is also worth noting that this case is the first AIGC-related copyright case ever tried in Jiangsu Province. In fact, there have been more and more AICG copyright cases reported in China in the recent two years as AI technology prospers. For instance, we once introduced a case that claimed to be “the first AIGC platform copyright infringement case” in our article “China Court Determines AI Platform Liable for Infringing Copyright for its Generated Content”. In that particular case, the Guangzhou Internet Court determined for the first time that an AI platform operator during the process of providing the AIGC service was liable to infringe its information network broadcasting right of the Ultraman series in accordance with the Copyright Law and was ordered to cease the infringement immediately and compensate for economic loss, as well as pay a reasonable fee of RMB 30,000. For detail of this case, please refer to our article here.
It is estimated that more such court cases will emerge in the recent future, which will results in providing people in both the AIGC and legal field with abundant judicial practice materials and eventually leading to judicial rules that are replicable. Thus, It is recommended to keep an eye on the latest developments related to the AIGC copyright area.
It is reported that the plaintiff, who is an individual, created a picture work by using AI software, as well as further editing with Photoshop. The said work was named “伴心” (meaning companion heart), which is a red heart composed of a water drop and its reflection on the water surface and means that love is complete because of companionship. The plaintiff published the work on the Red Note and applied for copyright registration in April 2023.
The defendant 1, a technology company in Hangzhou, published on its social media account the installation videos and images of a love balloon module, which is highly similar to the said copyrighted work. Then, the defendant 2, a property company, used the said work in their own promotional article on their WeChat account, and established a 3-D device which was a half-hearted balloon contained in the plaintiff’s work in their developed area.
The plaintiff considered their actions had infringed its copyright and therefore brought a lawsuit to the Court against the said two defendants, and requested the two defendants to apologize on the Red Note for.three days, as well as compensate for the economic loss and reasonable fees.
According to the Court, it confirmed that the asset and rights of the picture work generated by the Midjourney Software belong to the user upon examination of the Midjourney Software Users Agreement and also examined during the trial the login process and user’s information, as well as the iterative process for the picture work, such as cue word modification. The Court considered that the plaintiff’s modification to the cue word and the picture details with image processing software shows its unique selection and arrangement, and the picture generated therefrom possesses creativity, which falls into the category of the work protected by the Copyright Law. Thus, the two defendants’ online broadcasting of the said picture without authorization has infringed the plaintiff’s copyright. The Court also recognized that the plaintiff’s copyright should only be limited to the said picture, whereas the physical device established by the defendant property company is merely a device based on a “heart”; thus, such establishment has not infringed the plaintiff’s copyright, which avoids the overprotection and abuse of the copyright.
In a word, the Court ordered the infringers to apologize to the plaintiff on their Xiao Hong Shu account for three consecutive days and compensate the plaintiff’s economic loss and reasonable fees amounting to RMB 10,000. The said judgment has come into effect.
[Comment]
According to Judge Hu Yue from the People’s Court of Changshu, this case confirms that a creator can own copyright to a work created with AI tools, assuming that the creator has innovative design expressions, which will greatly motivate creators to use AI tools to make creative work. On the other hand, the Court is careful to avoid the overprotection and abuse of the copyright by recognizing that “the act of using the ideas and thoughts of another's work does not constitute copyright infringement.” Thus, it can be seen that the Court weighs between motivating innovation by recognizing that users of AI tools can be benefit from the Copyright Law and preventing of right abuse by setting the boundaries of the rights.
It is also worth noting that this case is the first AIGC-related copyright case ever tried in Jiangsu Province. In fact, there have been more and more AICG copyright cases reported in China in the recent two years as AI technology prospers. For instance, we once introduced a case that claimed to be “the first AIGC platform copyright infringement case” in our article “China Court Determines AI Platform Liable for Infringing Copyright for its Generated Content”. In that particular case, the Guangzhou Internet Court determined for the first time that an AI platform operator during the process of providing the AIGC service was liable to infringe its information network broadcasting right of the Ultraman series in accordance with the Copyright Law and was ordered to cease the infringement immediately and compensate for economic loss, as well as pay a reasonable fee of RMB 30,000. For detail of this case, please refer to our article here.
It is estimated that more such court cases will emerge in the recent future, which will results in providing people in both the AIGC and legal field with abundant judicial practice materials and eventually leading to judicial rules that are replicable. Thus, It is recommended to keep an eye on the latest developments related to the AIGC copyright area.