Court Recognizes AI Short Dramas as Audiovisual Works, Factoring Token Costs into Damages

WISECODE Take

This ruling highlights that copyright is not automatically granted to AI-generated content; rather, the court for the first time factored prompt tuning and Token computing costs into damages calculation. In 2026, the Wuhan Jiang'an District Court ruled on a 47-episode AI short drama case, awarding 20,000 RMB in damages after finding substantial human intellectual input in prompt settings and scene editing. The court recognized the operational costs of AI tools rather than treating AI outputs as costless automated products. For companies using AI tools in video creation, protection requires proving human creative control; one-click generated content remains unprotected. Zhidian helps businesses establish internal trade secret management frameworks to systematically retain prompt drafts and generation logs. First, creative teams must preserve prompt drafts, generation logs, and raw project files to build a clear chain of evidence. Second, when asserting rights, companies should organize commercial tool licensing fees and computing cost breakdowns to support damage claims.