12/05/2025
๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฝ๐๐, ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๏ธ
On April 11, we were pleased to welcome Professor Renjun Bian (Peking University Law School) to the Advanced Seminar on Law and Technology at the University of Hong Kong, where she shared her latest research on the evolving threshold for copyright protection in the age of generative AI.
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐:
Professor Bian examined how courts in the U.S. and China diverge in their approaches to the copyrightability of AI-generated content (AIGC):
๐น In the U.S., courts apply a โ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐นโ standard, requiring evidence of human authorship over the final output (e.g., ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ ๐โ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ, ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฎ๐ข).
๐น In contrast, Chinese courts adopt a more flexible โ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐โ standard, granting protection based on prompting techniques and aesthetic judgment (e.g., ๐๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ป๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด).
But the central question remains: ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ตโ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐บ?
She proposed a novel reframing: shifting the focus from protecting authors to considering ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. If human contributions make AIGC more valuable or recognizable to users, perhaps that should define the threshold for copyright protection.
๐งช ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ (๐ก = ๐ต๐ฏ๐ต):
To explore this, her team conducted a two-part experiment:
1๏ธโฃ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ โ Can users distinguish AIGC with vs. without human input?
2๏ธโฃ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ (๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด) โ Do users perceive AIGC with human input as more valuable?
Preliminary results suggest that ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฝ๐๐ (e.g., hand-drawn sketches transformed by AI) is the most recognizable and valued form of human contribution. These findings point toward a more nuanced copyright frameworkโone that considers not just the presence of human input, but its perceptibility and value to users.
The session was moderated by Associate Professor Benjamin Minhao Chen, Director of the Law and Technology Centre, The University of Hong Kong, and joined by students and colleagues interested in copyright, technology, and the future of creative authorship.
