(By You Yunting) The recent AI-generated Chinese short drama Huo Qubing has gone viral. Reportedly, the computing production cost was a mere 3,000RMB, yet it racked up massive views. A friend asked me: “Can I charge for this video since it’s entirely generated by AI?” My response: “Certainly, it can be offered for a fee. However, under the Copyright Law, works generated entirely by AI are generally ineligible for copyright protection. If someone else uses this video to charge fees, you may have no legal recourse to stop them.” Therefore, to secure enforceable rights, creators must proactively embed protectable intellectual property (IP) or personality rights into their video as an “IP moat”.
I. Content Without IP Maximizes Benefits Platforms Interests
AI has dramatically lowered the entry barrier for film-making. But this cost reduction is a double-edged sword. For a hit script an original creator might spend months refining, a “content scraper” using AI can generate a remake in just seconds—one with similar plot logic, character dynamics, and story framework, but with different expressions. Under copyright law’s idea-expression dichotomy, ideas or creativity alone aren’t protected. As long as the form of the expression differs, it doesn’t constitute infringement. Without IP protection, the market becomes like a “dark forest” as described by Liu Cixin, a Chinese engineer and science-fiction writer. Every successful work is like a galaxy revealing its position, quickly becoming a target for plagiarists to strike and plunder.
Hongguo (a short-drama app) recently scrapped its minimum guarantee for human creators. While framed as a policy adjustment, it likely signals the platform’s pivot toward AI-generated content. The reason is simple: if the platform is flooded with AI content that lacks copyright protection, it can promote any hit without worrying about licensing disputes. In this ecosystem, creators are incredibly vulnerable. Even if they can produce a hit, the platform can redirect traffic to any copycat, leaving the original creator with no way to defend their rights.
II. Building a TrueBarrier with an IP Matrix
If a script’s framework cannot protect a creator, what can? The answer lies in identifiable and original visual and image assets. Specifically, this includes portrait rights and intellectual property rights. If the main characters are based on real actors or licensed copyrighted virtual avatars, legal protection is established. Original character designs, visual styles, costumes and makeup, theme music, and stage designs can all be registered for copyright.
Furthermore, systematic expressions, such as character dynamics and narrative style, emotional arcs between protagonists, unique jokes, catchphrases, and world-building, constituted identifiable IP assets. As long as these elements are original, the ownership remains clear even if AI is used for extensions or modifications. Additionally, titles and key character names can be registered as trademarks to reinforce the barrier. Together, these elements form an irreplaceable IP matrix. While AI can mimic individual elements, once the underlying art, imagery, and music have established clear authorship, the cost of plagiarism rises significantly and the path to legal enforcement opens up.
III. Case Study: Turning Public Themes into an IP Moat
The approach Japan’s Koei Tecmo built their “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” game series is a perfect model for creators in the AI era. The original text “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” written by Chen Shou, is in the public domain, free for anyone to use. However, for decades, Koei Tecmo has done one thing continuously: continuous, systematic, visual re-creation, turning this once-public IP into their own moat.
Through their numerical systems, relationship networks, and event-triggers mechanisms, Koei Tecmo transformed historical stories into a distinct, recognizable Three Kingdoms narrative style. From character art to costume designs and personality portrayals, every historical figure was given a unique Koei Tecmo visual interpretation. These constitute original expressions protected by copyright and have built a strong cognitive bond with players. When people think of Cao Cao’s aura or Zhuge Liang’s appearance, the first image that comes to mind is often Koei Tecmo’s version.
This visual design provides not only copyright protection but also strong psychological exclusivity. Other companies can name their games Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but players may not accept them. The success of Alibaba’s “Three Kingdoms: Tactics” is due not only to its quality but also to its official IP licensing from Koei Tecmo. This is a standard for building an IP moat: through sustained creation and IP management, familiar public themes are transformed into exclusive intellectual property assets.
In the end, in the AI era, creators no longer compete solely on content quality; IP-building capability is paramount. A great script wins the audience, but IP holds the territory. In an age where everyone can generate content, only those who own the IP truly own the market.
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