Shanghai Court Awards MiHoYo 750,000 RMB in Landmark AI Voice Cloning Case

The Pudong District Court in Shanghai ordered a software company to pay MiHoYo 750,000 RMB for unauthorized AI model training and voice cloning of 63 Genshin Impact characters. The defendant used unauthorized 1-minute character audio clips along with character images to sell paid voice-changing services. This landmark ruling sets Shanghai's first legal precedent establishing that fictional game character voices serve as commercial identifiers protected under unfair competition law. It establishes clear intellectual property boundaries for AI training data, preventing unauthorized commercial exploitation of video game voice assets. Forensic voiceprint analysis confirmed that the AI software's sample output matched the original game audio, refuting the defendant's claim that rights belonged solely to individual voice actors. The judge noted that a character's vocal traits are defined by game attributes and context rather than individual actor performance, giving them corporate commercial identifier status.