On April 6, according to information from Chinese media, an AI short film was removed by the platform after the character in the film had an appearance created by artificial intelligence technology but had a high degree of similarity with an actor in real life. Notably, the production unit did not provide evidence of legal use of images.
In fact, the phenomenon of "AI shaping like celebrities" is appearing more and more, especially in vertical short films - a new content trend attracting a large number of viewers. Some products once attracted attention when AI characters had faces that almost matched famous actors, raising suspicions about the illegal use of images.
Previously, a short film caused controversy when the male lead had an appearance similar to La Van Hi, especially a look similar to the role in the movie Truong Nguyet Tan Minh. Although the production side did not admit it, the wave of reaction from the audience showed that this issue is being widely concerned.
According to a representative of a distribution platform, in the first quarter of 2026 alone, more than 1,700 short films violating regulations were removed. In which, cases related to the use of invalid AI images accounted for a significant proportion. This platform has also conducted inspections of more than 15,000 contents and handled hundreds of violating products.
From a legal perspective, experts believe that the use of AI technology to recreate or simulate personal images without permission is an act of infringing on personal rights.
A typical case once tried by a court in China when an actress discovered that her image was photoshopped into a character in an AI movie, causing the public to misunderstand that she participated in the project. As a result, the court ruled that the production side violated, forced her to apologize and compensate for damages.
The rapid development of AI is opening up many creative opportunities for the entertainment industry but also poses major challenges in content management and protection of personal rights. Experts believe that without a strict control mechanism, the "face-to-face" situation between AI characters and real people will continue, leading to many legal consequences.
