The sentimental fools and the fictitious authors: rethinking the copyright issues of AI-generated contents in China

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached a point where the contents it generates are ostensibly analogous to expressions, a skill once dominated by humans, is possible. Considering the fact that the concept of ‘author’ is firmly connected with anthropocentrism, the idea of a ‘machine author’ has challenged this understructure of copyright law globally and spawned the need for legislative responses in both common law and civil law jurisdictions. This article investigates the current debates over copyright issues of AI in China, a jurisdiction that embraces the droit d’auteur system, especially those surrounding the pivotal issues of originality and ownership, and clarifies possible misunderstandings. It explains why the subjective path in assessing originality will not work for AI-generated contents, and the necessity of a human host when rejigging the related settings under the Copyright Law of China. In order to solve the structural, theoretical, and practical challenges brought by AI, this article advocates a ‘neighbouring rights’ setting and a digital signature mechanism for regulating AI-generated contents in China.