China

A Cultural Co., Ltd. v. A AI Company

China
Judgement effective
Shanghai Jinshan District People's Court
3 November 2025
Copyright infringement
AI training; Text and data mining; Scientific purposes; Opt‑out

Case Overview

The plaintiff, the copyright owner of the “Medusa” character image from the animated series Battle Through the Heavens, alleged that an individual user trained and published Medusa‑themed LoRA models on an AI image generation platform by using extracted images from the plaintiff’s animation, enabling other users to generate images identical or substantially similar to the Medusa character through prompt inputs. The plaintiff claimed that the conduct infringed its rights of reproduction, adaptation, and information network dissemination, and further constituted unfair competition, as the Medusa character functions as a commodity identifier with established market influence. The plaintiff also asserted that the platform failed to fulfill its duties by hosting and recommending infringing LoRA models, including multiple models targeting characters from Battle Through the Heavens. Accordingly, the plaintiff sought injunctive relief, a public statement to eliminate adverse effects, and monetary compensation against both defendants, with partial joint and several liability.