Chengdu MCN agency secures human identity data IP rights

An MCN (Multi-Channel Network) agency in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has secured intellectual property rights for human identity data, a move that could facilitate the compliant use of human images in the booming AI-powered short-drama sector, industry insiders say.

OST Media registered the property rights through MirrorWorld Intelligence, a Chengdu-based AIGC and data compliance service provider. The deal covers the data of content creators signed to OST Media, including real-life appearances, micro-expressions, body movements, and interactive gestures.

Tan Li, an official at the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology, said in an interview with the Jinjiang District Integrated Media Center, that most data IP registrations had focused on industrial, e-commerce, and financial sectors.

The Chengdu case, she noted, drew on the rules of Shenzhen's first digital human data IP rights registration, marking the first time that compliance boundaries, registration procedures, and commercial pathways for human identity data in the cultural and creative sector were clearly defined.

The data underwent compliance collection, cleaning and annotation, blockchain certification, and multiple reviews, before being packaged into standardized digital assets, according to Yuan Fang, founder of MirrorWorld Intelligence and co-founder of OST Media, during a sharing session on Thursday in Chengdu on the sidelines of the APEC Digital Weeks 2026.

The company claims to have assisted over 100 of its signed content creators and influencers in registering IP rights for multimodal human image datasets.

"Each registration certificate clearly defines rights ownership, data scope, usage scenarios, and authorization rules," Yuan said. "These measures can prevent unauthorized use of human identity data and provide evidentiary support for judicial rights protection and infringement claims."

Yuan added that the registration allows the data to be traced, authorized, reused, and monetized over time, opening new pathways for the commercialization of data assets in the MCN sector. "AI-generated characters often look identical. Creating a unique one, however, costs time, manpower, and tokens. Using human identity data directly can significantly save costs," he said, noting that registration is expected to see wide application in the rapidly growing AI-powered short-drama sector.

Yuan said MirrorWorld Intelligence has signed strategic cooperation frameworks with over 100 institutions at home and abroad, with plans to establish a data trading marketplace and open branches in other countries.

China's short drama sector has seen explosive growth in recent years, with AI-generated content emerging as a dominant trend. Statistics from the China Netcasting Services Association show that about 128,000 micro dramas debuted in the first quarter, over 95 percent of which were AI-generated.

Industry insiders project that at least 5 million individuals nationwide will need to complete image data IP rights registration in the next two to three years as short-video, live-streaming, and short-drama sectors face tighter compliance rules.