Jackson Yee's face was "stolen" by AI short videos for profit, and the platform has already taken down the related content.

“Stealing faces” related short dramas of Yi Yangqianxi have been taken down.

In the early hours of April 5, Yi Yangqianxi’s studio issued a statement saying that recently the studio found that some online platforms were spreading AI drama series that used Yi Yangqianxi’s likeness without authorization. Yi Yangqianxi has not participated in the relevant drama series, nor has he authorized any third party to perform AI compositing using his likeness and so on.

The studio emphasized that the conduct of the relevant drama series producers using technologies such as AI compositing to produce drama series with Yi Yangqianxi’s likeness and so on constitutes infringement. The studio has now retained lawyers to carry out rights protection actions regarding the above-mentioned infringement.

Recently, some netizens posted on a social platform, saying they discovered that on Hongguo short drama there are multiple AI short dramas (such as “Midnight Public Car: She Catches the Ghost—So Terrifying!” “Cheat Me Out of a Good Life? Go Ahead, Don’t Regret It Later”) whose protagonists look highly like Yi Yangqianxi, and even their voices are similar. The discussion about the relevant drama series has been extremely hot, and netizens also @Yi Yangqianxi’s studio in the comments section to seek rights protection and handle the matter.

As of the time of publication, the reporter searched short drama platforms. “Midnight Public Car” and “Cheat Me Out of a Good Life?” have already been taken down on Hongguo short drama. However, Baidu, which has also listed related works, has not yet adjusted the characters’ image or taken them down.

Hongguo short drama’s artificial customer service responded to the reporter: To actively respond to governance requirements, the relevant short dramas have been taken down. Hongguo short drama’s official response to the reporter said: The relevant content has been completed with modification or deletion, and at the same time the right to pursue further accountability against the producers is retained.

This is yet another AI “face-stealing” incident involving Hongguo short dramas in recent days. At the end of March, a user with the ID “Baicai Hanfu Makeup Styling” posted on a social platform, saying: “Hongguo short drama ‘Peach Blossom Hairpin’ without permission, used photos I had taken earlier for AI processing. The short drama portrays me as a person who is greedy for money and lewd, and I’m really speechless.”

On April 3, Hongguo short drama released the handling outcome: The platform determined that the producer violated the relevant content compliance usage rules, constituting an unlawful breach of contract. Therefore, the drama was comprehensively taken down, and the producer was suspended from uploading all drama series for 15 days.

People in the legal community pointed out that the core of AI “face-swapping” infringement lies in “public recognizability.” Even if it is not a 100% replication, as long as the general public can reliably be reminded of a specific natural person, it may still constitute infringement of portrait rights.

Regarding related issues of improper use of likenesses in AI short dramas, Yu Yunting, a senior partner at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, told First Financial that under the current Civil Code there are two paths for rights protection: First, take the portrait rights route. If the short drama used someone else’s likeness without permission and generated an AI video work, it may be涉嫌侵犯肖像权. Second, if the AI work also degrades the relevant likeness holder, it may further involve infringement of the right to reputation.

At present, AI short dramas are in a stage of rapid expansion. With advantages such as low production costs, short timelines, and clear monetization paths, this track has quickly attracted a large number of content producers to rush in. At the same time, however, phenomena such as “face-stealing” celebrities or ordinary people, and vague authorization boundaries, have gradually evolved into gray “industry unspoken rules.”

Industry insiders call for platforms to strengthen the upfront review mechanism for AI content, and to establish an identification and early-warning system including the recognition of celebrities’ likenesses. Content producers need to clearly define the boundaries of authorization to avoid stepping over legal red lines. On the regulatory side, regulators should also accelerate the progress of relevant legislation, refine compliance standards and punishment mechanisms for deep-synthesis content, and draw clear boundaries for the AI content industry.

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责任编辑：刘万里 SF014