Two cases adjudicated by the Beijing Internet Court (BIC) have been selected for the eighth nationwide selection of top 100 outstanding judgments and top 100 court trials, marking the court's inclusion in both categories for two consecutive years.

According to the Supreme People's Court, a total of 464 documents and 331 court trials were recommended by courts nationwide. After multiple rounds of preliminary review, re-evaluation and final assessment, 100 outstanding judgment documents and 100 excellent court trials were selected for the final lists.

1. Award-winning judgment document

A case involving infringement of personality right relating to AI-generated voice

Collegial panel: Zhao Ruigang, Sun Mingxi, Yan Jun, Li Wenchao, and Zhao Xiaochang

Case summary

The plaintiff had previously recorded audio products for Company A. Company A provided the audio to Company B, which used the recordings as materials to process them with artificial intelligence (AI) and developed a software capable of generating speech in the plaintiff's AI-processed voice from arbitrary text. Company B sold this software to Company C, which repackaged it as its own product and released it to the market.

The plaintiff discovered that some short videos on online platforms used voiceovers generated from their voice, and found that the source of the voiceovers was the software operated by Company C. As the plaintiff had never authorized any company to process or use their voice or audio data through AI, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit with the BIC, requesting Companies B and C to cease their infringement and make apologies, and ordering Companies A, B and C to jointly pay 600,000 yuan ($86,234.31) in compensation.

Details of the judgment

The BIC held that the plaintiff's voice rights extend to the AI-generated voice in question. A natural person's voice possesses uniqueness, stability and identifiability, and can evoke associations with that person among the general public. If an AI-synthesized voice enables the public to associate it with a specific individual based on timbre, intonation and pronunciation style, it should be deemed identifiable and thus protected as a personality right.

Without the plaintiff's authorization, the Companies A and B had processed the plaintiff's voice through AI, thus constituted infringement of the plaintiff's voice rights and should bear corresponding legal liability. As the software had already been removed from the market by the time the lawsuit was filed, the request to cease infringement was considered fulfilled. However, as Companies B and C had engaged in infringing conduct, the plaintiff's request for apologies was supported in accordance with the Civil Code.

Company C, which purchased the software at a reasonable price and had no knowledge of the lack of authorization, was found not to have subjective fault and was not required to compensate for damages.

Taking into account factors such as the nature of the infringement, the market value of similar products and the volume of video views, the BIC determined the plaintiff's losses at 250,000 yuan ($35,925.49). The final ruling ordered Companies B and C to issue apologies, and Companies A and B to jointly compensate the plaintiff.

Significance

Voice, as a form of personality right is exclusive to the individual and should be legally protected. In practice, however, voices are often collected, synthesized, modified or imitated, posing new challenges to the protection of voice rights. With the rapid development of the internet and AI technologies, the legal protection of voice as a personality right has become increasingly important.

Book IV, the book about personality rights of the Civil Code, for the first time, provides statutory protection for voice rights, and expressly stipulates that the rules applicable to portrait rights shall apply by reference to the protection of natural persons' voices, reflecting comprehensive respect for and protection of personality interests.

In this case, the BIC, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, found Companies A, B and C to have committed infringement and ordered them to bear the corresponding tort liabilities, thereby underscoring the personality nature of voice and contributing to greater awareness and higher standards of comprehensive protection of personality rights.

2. Award-winning trial

A case involving copyright infringement

Collegial panel: Jiang Ying, Zhu Ge, and Zhang Qian

This case concerned copyright infringement relating to an AI-generated video, and involved cutting-edge legal issues, such as the copyrightability of AI-generated content and the determination of rights ownership.

The BIC will take this award as an opportunity to consolidate experience, refine mechanisms for producing high-quality judicial outcomes, and leverage the exemplary role of outstanding judgments and trials. It will further standardize its procedures, enhance the quality of judgments and hearings, and ensure that every case is handled efficiently and fairly, in a bid to let the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case.