A Shanghai court recently directed an unnamed AI service provider based in the city to compensate miHoYo, the developer behind Genshin Impact, with 750,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $112K USD) for the illegal use of the game’s character voices (source: The Paper). The decision centers on a voice conversion tool that enabled users to alter their voices in real-time by utilizing voice packs from miHoYo’s creation.
miHoYo alleged that the AI company replicated the voices of 63 Genshin Impact characters without authorization and marketed voice packs featuring these characters. The provider also crafted and disseminated promotional videos for its service that incorporated Genshin Impact character visuals and animations, employed altered character images as avatars for the voice packs, and permitted users to listen to character dialogues.
The game developer sought 5 million Chinese Yuan ($746K USD) in damages along with an immediate halt to the infringing activities, contending that these actions amounted to copyright infringement and unfair competition.
The AI company argued that its voice conversion tool was built on extensive AI training models, resulting in voice outputs that varied based on user input. It also contended that the rights to the voices belonged to the voice actors, suggesting that the actors themselves should pursue any legal claims.
Nevertheless, voiceprint analysis revealed that the vocal traits from the AI service and the character voices from Genshin Impact displayed “almost identical characteristics.” Moreover, the defendant admitted in court that it had blended one minute of audio from a Genshin Impact character with other data to train the voice conversion model.
The court concluded that Genshin Impact’s character designs and in-game footage were artistic works/audiovisual works, and that the defendant’s unauthorized use of these elements constituted copyright infringement.
Furthermore, it was ruled that, given Genshin Impact’s sustained popularity, the character voices served as distinctive identifiers for consumers. The court found that the defendant’s actions surpassed the bounds of reasonable imitation and constituted unfair competition (i.e., creating a product that could mislead consumers into believing it was an official offering).
The court ultimately ordered the AI service provider to cease the infringing activities immediately and pay approximately $112K USD to miHoYo. Although the initial ruling was issued on June 30, it recently became definitive after the defendant withdrew its appeal.