Jackson Yee Photo: Li Hao/GT

The statement from Jackson Yee's studio Photo: screenshot

Chinese actor Yi Yangqianxi, also known as Jackson Yee, has gone viral in several AI-generated dramas. His studio released a statement early Sunday clarifying that Yee has neither participated in any such productions nor authorized any third party to use his likeness for AI synthesis.

The studio stated that they had discovered that certain online platforms have been disseminating AI-generated dramas that have been produced using unauthorized reproductions of Jackson Yee's likeness and other elements. 

The studio has now engaged legal counsel to initiate legal action against the aforementioned infringements. The studio warned all relevant parties to immediately remove and cease the dissemination of such infringing content. It said the studio will actively pursue all legal remedies to hold the infringing parties fully accountable for their actions.

According to China Youth Daily, multiple netizens have recently posted online about a number of AI-generated short dramas on a short-form video platform that have allegedly misappropriated actor Jackson Yee's likeness and voice using AI synthesis technology without authorization. 

A video clip uploaded by a netizen shows that in a short drama titled "Midnight Bus: She's Super Fierce at Catching Ghosts!" an actor bearing a striking resemblance to Jackson Yee appears, and the voice is also highly similar. 

In the comment section of the related post, some netizens also pointed out multiple other short dramas that used similar techniques and are also suspected of misappropriating Jackson Yee's likeness, according to China Youth Daily.

The media report said one of the short dramas, titled "Trick Me Into a Good Reincarnation? Fine, You'll Regret It," has a popularity score approaching 75 million.

A netizen Zhizhi wrote that "AI short dramas are getting too brazen. Progress must come with legality."

Jackson Yee's case is not an isolated incident but a common problem in the industry. Media reports indicate that many other celebrities, such as Xiao Zhan and Dilraba Dilmurat, have also suffered from similar AI-related infringements.

Although some of the advantages of using AI in the industry are being discussed, the move of introducing AI actors has sparked widespread debate over portrait-right infringements, industry ethics, and the survival of human actors. 

You Yunting, senior partner and intellectual property attorney at Shanghai Debund Law Offices, told the Global Times that if an AI tool was trained without people's consent, the question arises as to whether this constitutes fair use. 

If an AI user inputs a person's photo, resulting in the individual's likeness appearing in the short drama. In this case, the AI user, namely the production team, would be infringing on portrait rights, You said.

Previously on April 2, the Actors Committee of the China Federation of Radio and Television Associations released a statement against such frequent infringements currently occurring — including AI face-swapping and synthesis, voice cloning and replication, arbitrary tampering or "wild" modification of film and television footage, and unauthorized capture of actor images and voices for AI model training.

AI technology research, development, and service platforms shall also strictly comply with all applicable laws and regulations, strengthen their pre-review obligations, rigorously verify the authorization credentials for actor likenesses, voices, images, and other materials uploaded by users, and effectively fulfill their compliance and regulatory responsibilities, the Association said.