Shanghai Court Issues Landmark AI Prompt Copyright Ruling

AI prompts have officially emerged as a new focal point in intellectual property (IP) protection, after a landmark ruling by Shanghai courts clarified the copyright boundaries for such prompts and established a benchmark for regulating the fast-growing field of AI-generated content.

The case was among the latest typical IP disputes released by the Shanghai High People's Court, part of broader efforts to strengthen IP protection and fuel the development of new quality productive forces in technological and emerging sectors.

The dispute dates to August 2022, when a cultural communication company input several sets of prompts into an AI platform to generate images. The prompts included specifications such as "Art Nouveau style illustration of Aquamarines Stygiomedusa gigante," "by Alphonse Maria Mucha," and "Papyrus."

Shortly after the images were generated, the company discovered nearly identical visuals in published works by two individuals surnamed Sheng and Zhu. Alleging the pair had used the same prompts to create the images, the company filed a lawsuit, demanding the defendants cease the infringement and pay 9,000 yuan (US$1,300) in compensation. Its core argument: the prompts it designed were eligible for copyright protection.

During the trial, the court ruled that while the prompts reflected some degree of creative intent from the user, they were presented in a simplistic form lacking personalized characteristics. Descriptions of styles and materials within the prompts, the court noted, were conventional expressions that failed to include unique aesthetic perspectives or artistic judgments – falling short of the standards required for copyright protection.

The Huangpu District court dismissed the plaintiff's claims last year.

The Shanghai Higher People's Court emphasized the case's significance, noting that prior to the ruling, there had been no judicial precedent addressing whether AI prompts qualify as works under copyright law. The decision, it said, will help regulate market order in the AI creation space, encourage rational innovation by enterprises and creators in the AI sector, and reduce disputes stemming from unclear IP boundaries.

"AI prompts are the 'starting point' of AI creation, and clarifying their IP protection scope is crucial to advancing the healthy development of the AI industry – a key driver of new quality productive forces," said Cao Jie, vice president of the Shanghai High People's Court.