Where to begin

This year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, with China's economy demonstrating resilience and steady growth. High-quality development is the core requirement of the new era, and a sound legal framework is the best foundation for business. The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines the development of a law-based and credit-driven economy. To further explore how courts at all levels are supporting the 15th Five-Year Plan's strong start and serving high-quality development, the Supreme People's Court's News Bureau launched a media campaign titled "Judicial Guarantee for a Strong Start to the 15th Five-Year Plan: A Media Frontline Observation." The campaign's first stop was Guangxi, a key gateway for China's cooperation with ASEAN. Journalists visited courts, industrial parks, border ports, and project sites to experience the vibrant pulse of rule of law driving Guangxi's maritime and open development.

Rising short drama disputes

Wei Meiyun, Deputy Chief Judge of the Nanning Intellectual Property Court, recently stated in an interview that she and her colleagues plan to issue a "risk notification" to companies in animation, gaming, and film production parks. This notification is a judicial warning based on trends in intellectual property disputes, targeting the rise in copyright conflicts over literary adaptations, video works, and short dramas. The court aims to clarify legal boundaries for new business models before infringement occurs.

In recent years, Nanning has accelerated the development of its cultural industry. The China-ASEAN Animation and Game Industry Park and the Beibu Mingyuehui AI Digital Film and Television Creation Center have launched, driving the growth of short dramas and animation as new economic drivers. However, this has led to a surge in copyright disputes. Since 2025, Nanning courts have handled 93 cases involving short drama infringement. Wei Meiyun noted that AI's role in literary creation is significant, and copyright disputes arising from adaptations between video works, text, and short dramas have become a key focus for the court. "We encourage presenting literary works through short dramas or comics, but this must not violate public order, good customs, or the law simply for traffic or attention," she emphasized.

A case between a Jiaxing-based cultural media company and a Hainan-based internet technology company highlights the trend of "twinning" short dramas. Jiaxing, the copyright holder of the short drama "Return of the War Soul," argued that the Hainan company created "The Revered Divine Lord" based on its characters, plot, and footage without permission, uploaded it to its platform, infringing on its information network dissemination rights. Dissatisfied with the initial compensation, Jiaxing appealed. The Nanning Intellectual Property Court ruled that the Hainan company had infringed upon Jiaxing's copyright. The court noted that the Hainan company had explicitly instructed the producer to use Jiaxing's work as a reference sample, demonstrating clear malicious intent. Given the high market value of Jiaxing's work, the initial compensation was deemed insufficient. The court ordered the Hainan company to pay 10,000 RMB in economic losses and reasonable expenses. The judgment took effect on March 26, 2026.

Judge Tu Yuanyuan from the Nanning Intellectual Property Court explained that since last year, AI technology has deeply integrated into the short drama industry, significantly shortening production cycles but also increasing related copyright disputes, presenting new challenges for judicial trials. The court's current approach involves detailed comparisons between allegedly infringing works and original works in terms of character settings and plot structures. However, Tu admitted that it is difficult to establish a uniform standard for what constitutes infringement in terms of similarity, requiring case-by-case analysis. Using the "Return of the War Soul" case as an example, she noted that most short drama copyright disputes are initiated by parties who have obtained adaptation rights to literary works, with direct rights holders often not involved. Plaintiffs typically can only provide profit data from a single platform as evidence of loss, making it hard to cover all damages, leading to generally low compensation amounts.

Systematic measures for protection

Wei Meiyun further pointed out that the core of these cases lies in determining the originality of the works. She noted that in response to the rapid development of new business models like short dramas and AI-generated films, the Nanning Intellectual Property Court has implemented a series of systematic measures. For dispute resolution, the court actively promotes copyright mediation, leveraging professional mediation organizations for pre-litigation and in-process mediation to resolve disputes amicably and facilitate copyright licensing agreements or withdrawals after successful mediation. To foster a positive social atmosphere, the court, in collaboration with the Nanning Press and Publication Bureau, has released "Top Ten Copyright Cases" to clarify rights and responsibilities, providing clear legal guidance for creators, operators, and online platforms. The court also strengthens legal education through activities like the 4.26 Intellectual Property Promotion Week, visits to parks, communities, and government agencies, and model trials.

Wei Meiyun told reporters that the court rigorously combats homogenized plagiarism, guiding practitioners to obtain proper authorization from rights holders and balancing rights protection with industry innovation. The forthcoming risk notification for industrial parks will further clarify that literary works must be adapted with authorization from rights holders, practitioners should prioritize content quality and uphold socialist core values, cease infringing activities upon discovery, and industry associations should strengthen supervision and self-discipline to promote healthy development of the AI short drama industry.

Seed industry innovation focus

Lan Dandan, Chief Judge of the Third Civil Division of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region High People's Court, stated that in recent years, Guangxi courts have fully leveraged their judicial functions in intellectual property protection to serve the innovation-driven development strategy, providing strong legal support for optimizing the business environment and promoting high-quality economic and social development. Data shows that from 2023 to 2025, Guangxi courts handled 22,339 intellectual property cases, including copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret disputes, concluding 19,401 cases with a closure rate of 86.85%. The top three case types were disputes over information network dissemination rights, trademark infringement, and copyright ownership infringement. To strengthen specialized intellectual property adjudication, the Nanning Intellectual Property Court was officially established in January 2026. It handles first-instance technical intellectual property civil and administrative cases within Guangxi, as well as first-instance intellectual property civil, administrative, and criminal cases in Nanning that are not under basic court jurisdiction, along with second-instance cases. Since its establishment, the court has accepted 626 cases and concluded 394.

While providing judicial protection for new business models, the Nanning Intellectual Property Court has also turned its attention to another promising area in Guangxi: seed industry intellectual property protection. Guangxi is rich in resources, ranking first nationally in fruit production, with crops like rice and corn vital for food security, as well as renowned fruits and flowers such as sugar oranges, durians, passion fruits, and jasmine. Wei Wubin, Party Secretary and President of the Nanning Intermediate People's Court, emphasized that the seed industry is the "chip" of agriculture, with innovation at its core and protection as a key priority. The court strengthens comprehensive seed industry protection, using rules to solve infringement identification challenges. By leveraging evidence preservation and behavioral preservation systems, the court promptly locks in infringement evidence, achieving a variety rights holder win rate of 87.88%. The average trial period for new plant variety infringement cases is 135 days, 47.32 days less than before the court's establishment.

Wei Wubin stated that the Nanning Intellectual Property Court will develop a region-specific intellectual property protection mechanism, enhancing seed industry protection and increasing efforts in handling new plant variety cases to support Guangxi's rural revitalization. "We will target local industries with 'Guixi' characteristics, Guangxi geographical indications, superior varieties, and new tea beverages. Through establishing protection bases, circuit trials, and visiting leading enterprises, we will strengthen product quality, brand promotion, and industrial integration, forming a 'Nanning experience' in intellectual property protection. We aim to build a legal barrier for both 'new business models' and 'traditional industries' with judicial rulings, finding the best balance between protecting innovation and supporting development," he added.