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Latest / Media, elections and online safety

Enforcement or court caseMediaChinaReported

Beijing Internet Court grants copyright in an AI-generated image to the user who prompted it

See how this story connects

Source: CMS: AI and copyright case tracker, China: Li v Liu (27 November 2023)Also reported by China Justice Observer

In Li v Liu, decided on 27 November 2023, the Beijing Internet Court held that an image the plaintiff made with open-source image-generation software was a protected work of fine art and that he was its author. The court pointed to his choice of model, prompt design and repeated adjustment of parameters as human intellectual input. It ordered the defendant, who had posted the image without attribution, to pay compensation and publish an apology, and said the plaintiff should state which AI tool he used.

Why it matters

People in China who make images with AI tools can claim copyright in them when they can show their own creative choices in prompts and settings.

When
27 Nov 2023
ID
WTA-N-2023-0020
Where
China
Who
Beijing Internet Court
Authority
Beijing Internet Court
Target
Defendant Liu
Action
ruling: AI image is a protected work
Status
decided · Enforcement ledger

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from CMS and the reporting credited above. We could not open the primary document, so it is marked Reported. Checked against the source on 9 Oct 2026.

Read the original at CMS

Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Next stop on this Storyline: What happened nextBeijing court rules that cloning a voice actor’s voice with AI infringes the actor’s rights

Cite this story

WTA-N-2023-0020: “Beijing Internet Court grants copyright in an AI-generated image to the user who prompted it.” wheresthe.ai, 27 Nov 2023. https://wheresthe.ai/d/cn-beijing-internet-court-li-v-liu-ai-image-2023-11/ (source: CMS: AI and copyright case tracker, China: Li v Liu (27 November 2023)).

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