01
Factual background & dispute
- Shanghai Character License Administrative Co., Ltd. held an exclusive licence in China to the reproduction, adaptation and information-network dissemination rights in the Ultraman artworks and had independent enforcement authority.
- The defendant's Tab website (a pseudonym) connected to a third-party AI image service through an API. Prompts such as 'generate an Ultraman Dyna' produced images partly or wholly substantially similar to protected Ultraman characters.
- The defendant argued that a third party supplied the image function and that it had not trained the model. The court found that the website lacked a complaint mechanism, intellectual-property risk notices and conspicuous AI-content labels.
02
Core issues & judicial focus
- Whether the generated images infringed the reproduction, adaptation and information-network dissemination rights
- Whether an operator using a third-party model through an API qualifies as a generative AI service provider
- What technical prevention standard applies to cessation of infringement and whether training data must be deleted
- How complaint handling, risk notices and AI-content labelling affect damages liability
03
Judicial finding & holding
- The generated images infringed the reproduction and adaptation rights in the Ultraman works. The service provider had not itself trained the model at issue.
- The court ordered technical measures to prevent further infringing outputs and RMB 10,000 in damages and reasonable costs.
- The claimant’s remaining requests were dismissed.
04
Practical risk implications
01Product operators remain responsible for statutory duties when they deliver generative AI functions through third-party models or APIs.
02Highly recognisable intellectual property requires keyword and semantic controls, similarity testing, complaint handling and continued regression testing.
03User terms should define intellectual-property limits, generated content should carry required labels, and testing and remediation should be documented.