In a first, Chinese court grants copyright to an AI-generated image, riles up artists

A groundbreaking decision by a Chinese court, recognizing the copyright of an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated image, is positioned to catalyze creativity and provide a significant boost to the burgeoning AI industry, as stated by the presiding judge responsible for the landmark ruling.

In an unprecedented judgment in mainland China, the Beijing Internet Court ruled in November that an image created through the text-to-image software Stable Diffusion qualifies as artwork entitled to copyright protection due to the originality and intellectual contribution of its human creator.

The court’s move to confer legal status on generative AI content, under specific conditions in this case, is seen as an effort to inspire individuals to engage in creative endeavours using new tools, emphasized Judge Zhu Ge during a recent lecture reported by Chinese online news outlet The Paper.

The judge expressed concerns about the potential negative impact on the industry if AI-generated content is not recognized as artwork, stating, “If no content created with AI models can be considered artwork, this would deal a blow to the industry.”

While the ruling has ignited heated debates on whether AI-generated content should be safeguarded by copyright laws, the Beijing Internet Court asserts that future disputes involving an author’s personal expression in AI-assisted image creation should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The legal precedent emerged from an intellectual property infringement lawsuit initiated in May of the previous year by a plaintiff named Li, who utilized the Stable Diffusion program from the US startup StabilityAI to craft an image posted on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.

Li accused blogger Liu of using the AI-generated image without permission on the Baidu-owned content-sharing platform Baijiahao. The court ruled in favour of Li, deeming the AI-generated image an artwork based on continuous human input into prompts and parameter adjustments reflecting “aesthetic choice and personalized judgment.”

Judge Zhu underscored the ruling’s consideration of potential implications for “emerging industries” during her lecture, hoping that the decision in this case could serve as a guiding reference for future disputes.

The court’s decision aligns with China’s evolving aspirations for generative AI, coinciding with global advancements in AI technology. Forecasts indicate that China’s generative AI industry is poised to contribute 30 trillion yuan in economic value by 2035, constituting a third of the industry’s projected global value of 90 trillion yuan, according to a report by the CCID Group, affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

(With inputs from agencies)