"AI Prompt-Generated Images Not Protected by Copyright"… First Ruling in China

A legal precedent has been set in China for the first time, stating that images generated using artificial intelligence (AI) prompts are not subject to copyright protection.

According to Legal Daily, published by the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, the People's Court of Zhangjiagang City in Jiangsu Province recently ruled that images generated solely by entering prompts into an AI model are not eligible for copyright protection. The ruling was made last month.

AI-generated image (left) and the actual product sold. Judgment of the People's Court of Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, China

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According to reports, a designer filed a civil lawsuit claiming commercial damages after alleging that their own images had been misappropriated. However, the Chinese court did not recognize copyright, stating that there was no creative contribution from the creator in works generated using AI.

Since neither the plaintiff nor the defendant appealed the ruling or took any other legal action, the first-instance civil court decision has acquired the legal effect of a precedent.

Previously, the plaintiff, designer Feng, published a series of 17 AI-generated images titled "Fantasy Wings Transparent Art Chair" on the Chinese social networking service Xiaohongshu in August 2023. Feng also posted a message expressing hope for mass production. Upon seeing this, the defendant, Zhu, proposed a design collaboration to Feng, but Feng declined, stating that he had already decided to contract with another party.

However, in January of the following year, Zhu posted a photo on social media of a transparent chair that borrowed from Feng's previously uploaded images. Initially, Zhu claimed, "I made a butterfly chair for my daughter for 500,000 yuan (about 97,955,000 won)," but later began selling the product online. Upon learning of this, Feng claimed copyright infringement and commercial damages, demanding 200,000 yuan (about 4,000,000 won) in compensation from Zhu and filed a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt to sales.

In court, the judge asked for a recreation of the creative process. However, even when using the same prompt words as before, the resulting work was completely different from the one previously posted on social media. Since the AI randomly selects from countless images to generate content, the final image differed significantly from the original. Additionally, the court found that the product suspected of copyright infringement and the specific expression in the promotional photos were markedly different from Feng's work, making it difficult to find any similarity.

The court ruled that, in order for a creator to claim copyright over their work, there must be an individual creative contribution. Accordingly, the court dismissed the plaintiff's claim and ruled in favor of the defendant.

The court also added that images generated by AI using simple prompts are not creative works, but merely ideas. Legal Daily commented, "This ruling is the first recognized case in China that does not recognize AI prompt-based images as creative works, and therefore does not establish copyright infringement. It has presented a new standard for future legal disputes in this area."

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