Guangxi seeks to better protect digital creative IPs

Judges in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region are preparing to issue a "risk notification" to local animation and short drama industrial parks, a preemptive judicial measure aimed at helping emerging creative industries stay within legal boundaries before copyright disputes spiral out of control.

The notification, expected in the coming weeks, will urge creators and online platforms to obtain proper authorization before adapting existing works and avoid producing content that violates public order or good morals, even in pursuit of online traffic, said Wei Meiyun, deputy chief judge of the Nanning Intellectual Property Tribunal.

The move comes as China elevates intellectual property protection to a strategic national priority. On July 20, the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for IP protection and commercialization, calling for faster legal updates, stronger policy support and a more favorable environment for innovation-driven development.

The Supreme People's Court also released its implementation road map for the same five-year period, emphasizing stronger IP protection in emerging sectors and greater judicial support for developing new quality productive forces.

The work of the Nanning tribunal reflects these national priorities while addressing the practical challenges of a rapidly expanding creative economy.

Established in January 2026, the tribunal has seen a sharp increase in disputes involving the adaptation of literary works into videos, short dramas, animated series and AI-generated content.

Wei said judges are frequently handling cases involving novels adapted into short dramas as well as AI-assisted video production.

"We encourage creative reinterpretation, but not at the expense of public interest or the law," she said.

Since the start of 2025, courts in Nanning, including the tribunal, have handled 93 disputes involving short dramas.

One representative case involved the short drama The Return of the Warrior Spirit. The tribunal found that the producer had copied the original work's character settings, plot structure and visual scenes, and ordered the producer to pay 10,000 yuan ($1,400) in damages.

Tu Yuanyuan, the judge who handled the case, said AI has dramatically shortened production cycles while making infringement more difficult to detect.

During the trial, she spent considerable time comparing the disputed work with the original in terms of character design and narrative structure.

She said the ruling recognized both the original work's market value and the defendant's clear intent to imitate it, although the damages awarded were relatively modest.

"There is no uniform legal threshold for what constitutes substantial similarity," she said. "Every case turns on its own specific facts."

Tu added that many short drama lawsuits are filed not by original authors but by companies or individuals that have acquired adaptation rights to literary works.

In many cases, plaintiffs are only able to provide evidence of infringement on individual online platforms rather than across cyberspace, a limitation that often results in relatively low damage awards, she said.

To address such challenges, Wei said the tribunal has promoted both prelitigation and in-court mediation, encouraging parties to resolve disputes through licensing agreements or settlements facilitated by professional mediators.

The tribunal has also published typical copyright cases to provide guidance for creators, platform operators and online platforms. Public awareness initiatives, including lectures and open hearings, have also been launched to foster greater respect for intellectual property rights, she said.

Lan Dandan, chief judge of the third civil division of the Guangxi High People's Court, said courts across the region have strengthened IP adjudication in recent years to support innovation and improve the business environment through the rule of law.

From 2023 to 2025, courts in Guangxi handled more than 22,000 IP disputes involving copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets, and concluded more than 19,000 of them, she said.

To improve the quality of case handling and better resolve disputes involving emerging industries and technologies, Guangxi established the specialized tribunal early this year.

It has so far accepted 626 cases and concluded 394.

Beyond the digital creative sector, the tribunal is also strengthening IP protection in the seed industry.

Wei Wubin, president of the Nanning Intermediate People's Court, said Guangxi is one of China's leading agricultural regions, ranking first nationwide in fruit production, with crops including rice, corn, lychees, passion fruit and jasmine.

He described the seed industry as the "chip" of agriculture, saying that innovation lies at its core and effective protection is essential to translating innovation into productivity.

He added that the tribunal is prepared to establish judicial protection bases and circuit trial teams tailored to Guangxi's distinctive agricultural brands, including its renowned sugar tangerines and other geographical indication products.

From the fast-paced world of short dramas to the long-term work of seed breeding, the tribunal is carving out a role as a pragmatic and forward-looking institution, reflecting China's broader ambition to build a world-class intellectual property protection system one case at a time.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn