AI Face-Swapped Short Drama Found to Infringe on Famous Actor's Portrait Rights

Beijing Internet Court Issues Landmark Ruling on AI Face-Swapping and Portrait Rights

In a groundbreaking decision, Beijing Internet Court has ruled that both the production company and broadcasting platform of a short drama are liable for infringing on a famous actress's portrait rights through AI face-swapping technology.

The case centers on a short drama produced by Company A, which used artificial intelligence to superimpose the actress's facial features onto an actor playing a character in the series. The AI-generated character bore such a close resemblance to the well-known actress that social media platforms were flooded with discussions under hashtags like "#ShortDramaSuspectedAIFaceSwapActressXXX#," leading many viewers to believe the actress had actually starred in the production.

The court conducted a thorough examination of the evidence and found that the character's facial contours and features in the two disputed clips were highly similar to the plaintiff's appearance. The general public was able to identify the short drama character as the plaintiff, satisfying the standard of recognizability required for portrait rights infringement.

Production Company's Defense Rejected

Company A argued that the character was entirely AI-generated without any intentional use of the actress's portrait. The company claimed it had never input any commands related to the actress and that the resemblance was a coincidental "face collision" result from the AI system generating a generic "beautiful woman" image.

However, the court rejected this defense. Company A failed to provide reproducible evidence of their creation process, and when asked to demonstrate the face-swapping technique they claimed to have used, the company stated it was unable to do so due to account and technical issues. The court concluded that the company bore the burden of proof for its "coincidence" argument and had failed to satisfy it.

Both Companies Held Liable

The court determined that Company A, as a professional short drama producer familiar with the entertainment industry and the plaintiff's fame, should have recognized that the face-swapped content would be identifiable as the actress's portrait. The company failed to obtain the actress's consent before using her likeness, constituting intentional infringement.

Regarding Company B, which operated the video platform broadcasting the short drama, the court held that merely obtaining copyright authorization does not serve as a defense against portrait rights infringement. The court noted that when portrait rights and copyright belong to different parties, the exercise of copyright cannot undermine portrait rights. Given the short duration of the disputed clips and the high recognizability of the actress's likeness, the court found that Company B had failed to exercise proper review and due diligence before publishing the content.

Court Ruling and Implications

Both companies were ordered to publish written apology statements on their video platforms and pay economic damages to the plaintiff. Neither party appealed the decision, and the first-instance judgment has taken effect.

This case represents a significant legal precedent in China for portrait rights protection in the age of artificial intelligence, establishing that AI-generated content that is recognizable as a specific individual constitutes portrait rights infringement regardless of whether real photographs were directly used.