Frequent AI infringement and short-drama compliance risks in entertainment: Lawyer Qian Jiayi on using contract tools to mitigate risks in advance.
Recently, Lvxin News released its 2025 Annual Rankings, and Qian Jiayi, director of Shanghai Junyi Law Firm, was named to the "Top 30 Women in Legal Leadership." She has深耕 the entertainment and sports sector for over a decade, handling numerous high-profile cases involving celebrity reputation management and infringement disputes. Facing high-frequency risks such as new types of infringement enabled by AI technology, tightening regulation of short dramas, and damage to investors' rights, Qian Jiayi proposed that "lawyers cannot wait for rules to be finalized; they must first build the framework for their clients." This article, from a lawyer's perspective and grounded in current statutes and judicial practice, analyzes the most prominent legal risks in the entertainment industry today and offers actionable compliance strategies for enterprises and individuals.
AI Face-Swapping and Voice Theft: Easy Infringement, Low Compensation—How to Resolve Ownership Disputes?
In the interview, Lawyer Qian Jiayi mentioned that the comprehensive intellectual property conflicts triggered by AI technology have become the top risk in the entertainment industry. In practice, cases such as unauthorized "face swapping" and the use of stolen voices to train models have frequently occurred. Although courts have ruled these as infringements, the compensation amounts are generally on the low side. This involves the provisions of Article 1019 of the Civil Code on the protection of portrait rights, as well as the difficulty under Article 10 of the Copyright Law in defining voice as a "work" or "performance."
The problem is that AI-generated deepfake videos often blend facial features from multiple people, and the audio may also be synthesized or spliced, making ownership determination extremely complex. In judicial practice, courts often exercise discretionary judgment in awarding damages under the mental distress compensation provision in Article 1183 of the Civil Code, but the amounts are difficult to cover the right holder's actual losses. Qian Jiayi recommends that artists and content providers should explicitly stipulate in contracts the scope of authorization for portrait rights and voice rights, prohibit AI deep synthesis uses, and agree on high penalty clauses. At the same time, companies should establish internal compliance review mechanisms for AI materials to avoid joint infringement liability arising from employees' use of unauthorized AI tools.
New Classification Filing Rules for Short Dramas: How Can Producers Avoid Their Projects Being Stillborn?
Short drama regulation is shifting from platform self-regulation to tiered filing, with a clear trend toward tightening policies. Qian Jiayi pointed out that if production companies cling to outdated standards, they risk project interruptions due to subject matter restrictions, resulting in losses of manpower and property. This involves the "General Rules for Content Review of Online Audio-Visual Programs" and the latest requirements from the National Radio and Television Administration regarding micro-drama filing.
For producers, the primary task is to build policy sensitivity. Lawyers should promptly organize key information on regulatory adjustments and communicate it to clients; at the same time, they should anticipate regulatory direction based on industry trends and assist clients in adjusting scripts and production plans. For example, in the field of AI animation series, although no comprehensive regulatory provisions exist yet, Qian Jiayi's team has already designed specialized investment templates that add compliance restrictions on the compatibility of AI materials, ensuring that even if a project involves third-party rights disputes, the fundamental rights and interests of investors can still be protected.
This "advance warning" model is worth learning from: lawyers should not only act as "firefighters," but also as "weather forecasters." In terms of contract structure, the completeness of the IP licensing chain should be clearly defined, force majeure clauses for policy changes should be included, and exit mechanisms should be established in the event that approval is blocked. Otherwise, once a project cannot go live due to regulatory reasons, investors may face tens of millions in sunk costs and find it difficult to seek compensation.
Public Opinion Crisis and Content Removal: Even Legally Flawless Content Can Be "Disappeared" — How to Hedge Against It with Contracts?
Qian Jiayi emphasized that public opinion is an unpredictable variable; even if a project has no legal flaws, if its expression runs counter to the direction of mainstream public opinion, it may still be taken down. In recent years, several films and TV dramas have been unable to air due to negative public sentiment surrounding their lead actors, causing heavy losses for investors. This involves the protection of the right to reputation under Article 1024 of the Civil Code, as well as the application of morality clauses in talent contracts.
In practice, investors should embed "morality clauses" into contracts with artists and key creative personnel, clearly stipulating liability for breach of contract when projects cannot be launched due to personal conduct, including methods for calculating compensation and insurance arrangements. Meanwhile, in response to public opinion risks, film completion insurance or artist conduct insurance can be purchased to transfer partial losses to insurance companies. When Qian Jiayi's team handles public opinion cases involving artists, they also often control the escalation of damages through measures such as sending legal notices, notarized evidence preservation, and emergency takedowns, which requires lawyers to possess rapid response capabilities and media communication skills.
Going Global and Emerging Practice Areas: How Can Pet Law, Art Law, and Trade Secret Protection Become Growth Points for Law Firms?
Juanyi Law Firm has been established for just over a year, yet it has already taken root in niche areas such as pet law, art law, and trade secret protection. Qian Jiayi revealed that in the field of pet law, the firm participated in legislative work and was interviewed by CCTV; trade secret protection, on the other hand, was a rigid demand reverse-engineered from technology companies' bidding and procurement needs.
Behind this lies a structural shift in entertainment legal services: on one hand, AI technology is deeply penetrating content production, driving traditional advertising production costs down from millions to AI-generated outputs, which raises systemic challenges around ownership, infringement, and compliance. On the other hand, there is strong demand for corporate overseas expansion, involving complex issues such as cross-border equity structures, tax planning, and workforce integration. Qian Jiayi suggests that young lawyers looking to enter this field should take a "curve-overtaking" approach—proactively building up AI technical knowledge and anticipating derivative legal risks, rather than passively waiting for rules to be established.
For enterprises, trade secret protection is no longer optional. Under Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, enterprises must establish confidentiality systems, sign confidentiality agreements, and adopt technical measures; otherwise, once a leak occurs, rights enforcement becomes extremely difficult. The "Quan You Fa Li" consumer rights protection brand launched by the Qian Jiayi team, along with the AIGC department, are precisely in response to the cutting-edge demand for the convergence of law and technology.
Lawyer's advice: Don't wait for the rules—build the framework first, and use contracts to create certainty.
Qian Jiayi repeatedly emphasized that "a lawyer's forward-thinking is the keenness to step one step ahead." When rules have not yet taken shape, the ability to provide answers first and find one's own direction ahead of others matters most. For ordinary content creators, film and television companies, or MCN agencies, the following legal advice is worth noting:
– **Contract First**: In AI content creation, short drama investment, and artist collaborations, be sure to specify in detail the ownership, scope of authorization, and breach clauses, especially the traceability requirements for AI-generated content.
– **Policy Radar**: Establish a normalized policy monitoring mechanism, or engage professional lawyers to provide regular compliance briefings, to avoid project interruptions caused by policy adjustments.
– **Public Opinion Contingency Plan**: Develop crisis response plans for artists and key IPs, including legal correspondence, evidence preservation, takedown procedures, etc.
– **Niche Specialization**: Competition in emerging fields such as pet law, art law, and trade secret protection remains limited. Lawyers should align with policy trends and social values, position themselves early, and build differentiated advantages.
Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, as a professional institution deeply engaged in legal services for the entertainment and technology sectors, provides enterprises with full-cycle compliance review, contract drafting, and dispute resolution services. In the face of the dual transformations brought by AI and regulation, we recommend that clients collaborate with professional legal teams at the earliest opportunity to resolve legal risks before project initiation. After all, the value of legal services lies not only in post-hoc rights protection, but also in proactive "design for certainty."
