## Facts

- Li used Stable Diffusion to generate an image by designing and iteratively revising prompts, selecting model components, adjusting generation parameters, and choosing one final output from multiple candidates.
- Li titled the selected image “Spring Breeze Brings Tenderness” and posted it to his Xiaohongshu account; the image displayed a Xiaohongshu user-ID watermark associated with Li.
- Liu posted an online article/poem on Baijiahao using Li’s image as an illustration, without authorization.
- Liu removed the Xiaohongshu watermark and did not attribute the image to Li.
- Li sued for infringement of (i) the right of authorship (attribution) and (ii) the right of communication/dissemination through an information network, requesting a public apology and 5,000 yuan in damages.
- Liu contended she found the image through internet search, lacked intent to infringe, used it non-commercially, and argued damages should be low given the nature of AI-generated images and her limited ability to pay.

## Issues

1. Whether the AI-generated image qualified as a protected “work” under applicable copyright law, and if so, what type of work it was.
2. Whether Li qualified as the author and copyright owner of the AI-generated image.
3. Whether Liu’s reposting of the image, failure to attribute, and removal of the watermark infringed Li’s attribution and information-network communication rights, and what remedies were appropriate.

## Decision

- The court held the image was a copyrightable work and classified it as a fine art (graphic) work.
- The court held Li was the author and copyright owner because the output reflected his aesthetic choices and personal judgment; the AI model was treated as a tool rather than an author.
- The court found Liu infringed Li’s right of authorship by removing the watermark and posting without attribution, creating a risk of public misattribution.
- The court found Liu infringed Li’s information-network communication right by uploading the image to an online platform without permission.
- The court ordered Liu to publish a public apology on Baijiahao and to pay 500 yuan in damages.

## Legal Principles

- Copyright protection may extend to AI-assisted or AI-generated outputs when the claimant’s creative input is reflected in the resulting expression, satisfying originality and “intellectual achievement” requirements.
- Originality turns on individualized expression arising from human choices; outputs resulting from mechanical or purely uniform processes lack protectable originality.
- Authorship is limited to legal subjects (e.g., natural persons); an AI system is not an author, and tool developers are not authors of specific user-generated outputs absent direct creative control over that output.
- Removing identifiers (such as a watermark) and reposting without attribution can infringe the right of authorship where it is sufficient to cause public misattribution, regardless of claimed lack of intent.
- Uploading a protected work to an online platform without permission can infringe the right of communication through information networks by making the work available to the public on demand.
- Remedies and damages may account for dissemination scope, non-commercial context, and the defendant’s circumstances.

## Conclusion

The court recognized copyright in a text-to-image output where the user’s prompting, parameter selection, iterative refinement, and final selection reflected individualized expression, and it imposed liability for unauthorized online reposting and removal of attribution markers, awarding an apology and modest damages.


Li v. Liu, No. 11279 (Beijing Internet Ct. Nov. 27, 2023)