AI company found guilty of violating Ultraman copyright in China

What happened

The dispute centred around the Ultraman series, in which the defendant’s website produced images very similar to the plaintiff’s copyrighted content when requested by a user. 

Ultraman is a well-known character owned by Tsuburaya Productions that was awarded the Guinness World Record for being the subject of the highest number of spin-off TV shows.

The court ordered the AI company to pay yuan 10,000 in damages for violating the plaintiffs' reproduction rights, setting a precedent for handling AI-generated content and emphasising the importance of protecting intellectual property rights.

This case constituted the first time an AI company was held legally responsible for generating copyrighted material, and was seen to highlight the challenge of regulating AI-generated works and their potential impact on creators and industries worldwide.

Why it happened

The case arose when users of the AI company's platform requested images related to Ultraman, resulting in outputs that were substantially similar to existing copyrighted works. 

The plaintiff contended that the AI service had used its copyrighted materials to train its model, leading to unauthorised reproductions. 

The court's ruling emphasised that the defendant failed to implement adequate measures to prevent such infringements, as mandated by China's Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services.