On June 26,2025, the "2025 Micro-Short Drama Global Brand Conference" was grandly held at Shanghai Oriental Smart Media City. Under the theme of "Openness, Connectivity, Empowerment", the event brought together leaders from the National Radio and Television Administration, Shanghai municipal government departments, industry association representatives, leading domestic and international platforms, production institutions, technical experts, and legal professionals to explore market opportunities, technological innovations, and industrial ecosystem development for micro-short dramas going global. Attended by lawyers Zhou Tao, Managing Partner and Director of Tianyuge Law Firm, and senior partner Tong Ling, the conference highlighted collaborative efforts in advancing the internationalization of micro-short dramas.
At the "Copyright Protection for Micro-Dramas" round forum during the "Short Drama Capitalism" investment and financing session, legal experts including attorney Zhou Tao, Professor Eric Goldman (Vice Dean of UC Santa Clara Law School), and Xie Bing (Founder of Shanghai Zhongyin Law Firm) engaged in an in-depth discussion moderated by Teng Manli, Ambassador for Business Environment of Shanghais Huangpu District. Attorney Zhou Tao highlighted emerging challenges posed by AI technology in micro-drama creation, production, and internationalization: Firstly, global legal frameworks regarding AI-generated contents "creator attribution" and "rights ownership" remain ambiguous and vary significantly, making it difficult to assess the stability of underlying copyright assets for AI-generated micro-dramas and posing latent value risks. Secondly, substantial differences in copyright recognition rules across nations, combined with AIs disruptive impact on legal systems, may result in conflicting legal interpretations of AI-inclusive micro-dramas between their origin countries and target markets, potentially rendering copyrights invalid. This "cross-border copyright invalidation" issue, when triggered during financing, transactions, or rights enforcement, poses a severe threat to investment security, resembling "the sword of Damocles hanging over investors heads." He particularly emphasized the need for industry stakeholders to proactively manage these core legal and investment risks.
Lawyer Zhou Taos speech directly addressed the fundamental legal challenges faced by the micro-series industry during its expansion through AI technology. He reminded producers, platforms, and investors that while embracing AI efficiency, they must proactively identify risks arising from legal ambiguity and differences in international regulations. Professional legal support should be sought during project framework design, contract clause drafting, and target market ion. As a law firm with extensive experience in intellectual property and entertainment technology fields, Tianyuge has demonstrated expertise in resolving complex copyright issues arising from cutting-edge technologies AI. This sharing session by Lawyer Zhou Tao further highlighted the firms professional capabilities and sense of responsibility in helping cultural tech enterprises navigate emerging legal challenges and safeguard their global expansion.
