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China · CN-003

Li Yunkai v Liu Yuanchun

HELDBeijing Internet Court(2023) Jing 0491 Min Chu 11279Final
AuthorshipCopyrightabilityHuman Creative ContributionOriginalityEvidence / Burden of Proof

Key holding or allegation

The court held that the user's iterative prompting, parameter choices, adjustment and selection were sufficient on the facts for copyright protection and human authorship.

Why it matters

Leading Chinese authority recognising copyright in a generative-AI image where substantial human creative choices were demonstrated.

Facts

Plaintiff generated an image through iterative prompts, parameter settings, adjustment and selection, and alleged unauthorised use by defendant.

Issues before the court

Whether the AI-generated image reflected sufficient human intellectual investment and personalised expression to qualify as a work and be attributed to the user.

What the court did not decide

Does not establish protection for all AI-generated images or recognise the AI model as an author.

Procedural timeline

2023-11-27

Beijing Internet Court
Merits judgment: Stable Diffusion image held copyrightable where iterative prompts, parameters, adjustments and selection reflected sufficient human intellectual contribution and personalised expression.

HELD