Is AI-generated content considered a work? China's Supreme Court is drafting judicial documents to clarify, with related cases increasing by 26% annually

According to 1M AI News, Li Jian, President of the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court of China, revealed today that the Supreme Court is drafting a related judicial policy document, intending to clarify two core issues: the originality recognition rules of AI-generated works and the legal nature of using others' works to train data for large models. Currently, China's Copyright Law has not provided detailed provisions on copyright protection for output created by generative AI.

Li Jian cited the "Ultraman Case," known as the first domestic AIGC infringement case, as an example. In this case, a certain AI painting platform had long been using a large number of Ultraman image infringing models. In September 2024, the first-instance court ordered the platform to stop the infringement and pay a compensation of 30,000 yuan, clearly stating that AI service providers should assist users in infringement liability in specific circumstances. Li Jian stated that the court emphasized that the service provider's duty of care should be commensurate with its information management capabilities, and generative AI services are only regulated by law when they violate the principle of good faith and disrupt the market competition order, preserving room for industry development.

On March 5, Deputy Chief Justice Tao Kaiyuan of the Supreme Court also stated that they are advancing the drafting of judicial policy documents related to AI and data property rights, mentioning that judges "find it difficult to make judgments simply by applying existing laws to the cases." In 2024, courts at all levels accepted 908 cases of disputes related to data ownership, transactions, etc., a year-on-year increase of 25.6%.