Hotspots · Analysis

Analysis of Indirect Infringement Risks and Construction of Compliance Paths on Platforms under the Popularity of Micro Dramas

Currently, micro dramas have evolved from "grassroots entertainment" to the core track of China's audio-visual content consumption. The "2024 Research Report on China's Micro Drama Industry" shows that the domestic micro drama market size will exceed 50 billion yuan in 2024, surpassing the annual film box office for the first time, and is expected to climb to 63.43 billion yuan in 2025. This growth trend has attracted participation from the entire industry chain. The White Paper on the Development of China's Micro Drama Industry (2025) released by the China Network Audiovisual Association shows that as of September 2025, the stock of domestic micro drama related enterprises reached 100200, with 16800 newly registered enterprises in the first nine months, a year-on-year increase of 12.57%.

Behind the prosperous development of micro dramas, there is a high incidence of infringement issues such as "piracy and transfer" and "plagiarism and manuscript washing". The infringement risk of micro drama platforms has also significantly increased, especially the risk of indirect infringement.

1、 The legal basis for micro drama platforms to bear indirect infringement liability

1. Indirect infringement norms in the Civil Code

Article 1197 of the Civil Code stipulates: "If a network service provider knows or should know that a network user is using its network services to infringe upon the civil rights and interests of others, and fails to take necessary measures, it shall bear joint and several liability with the network user

This clause provides fundamental legal guidance for the determination of indirect infringement liability on micro drama platforms, and establishes the core attribution logic of "fault determination+necessary measures". Specifically, if a micro drama platform knows or should know that the content uploaded by users infringes, but fails to take necessary measures such as deleting, blocking, or disconnecting links in a timely manner to stop the infringement, it shall bear joint and several liability with the directly infringing user. This rule directly defines the liability boundary of indirect infringement on the platform.

2. Detailed application rules of relevant judicial interpretations

The "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes Involving Infringement of Information Network Communication Rights" (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions") further refine the criteria for determining indirect infringement of platforms, including:

Article 8 [1] specifies that the people's court shall determine whether the network service provider is liable for instigating or aiding infringement based on their fault, and the core standard for determining fault is "knowing or should have known" the infringement behavior of the network user. At the same time, it is explicitly stated that if a network service provider fails to actively review a user's infringement behavior, it shall not directly determine their fault; If the platform can provide evidence to prove that reasonable and effective technical measures have been taken, but it is still difficult to detect the infringement, it should be deemed that there is no fault. This regulation clarifies the relationship between "active review" and "fault determination", avoiding exacerbating the platform's unreasonable review obligations.

Article 11 [2] stipulates that if a network service provider directly obtains economic benefits from works, performances, audio and video recordings provided by network users, the people's court shall determine that it has a higher duty of care for the user's infringement. This rule is aimed at the profit model of micro drama platforms, clarifying the corresponding relationship between "profit association" and "duty of care", and providing specific judicial guidance for judicial practice.

2、 Judgment on the indirect infringement liability of micro drama platforms in judicial practice

1. The standard for determining the fault of "knowing or should have known"

The determination of "knowing": In judicial practice, "knowing" is usually based on the clear infringement notice received by the rights holder on the micro drama platform. If the platform has received a valid notice from the rights holder containing specific indications of infringing content, proof of rights, and other elements, but has not taken corresponding measures in a timely manner, it can be determined that it constitutes a fault at the "knowing" level.

The determination of "should have known": "should have known" belongs to presumed fault, which means that although the platform has not received a notice of infringement from the right holder, it can be inferred that it has reasonable grounds to know the existence of infringement based on objective facts and common sense. In judicial practice, the popularity and popularity of the micro drama involved in the case are one of the criteria for judging whether the short drama platform "should know". That is, if a short drama has formed a widespread dissemination effect in the industry and has a high market heat, and the platform has not noticed the upload of relevant infringing content, it may be deemed as "should know". In addition, the frequency of recommending infringing content and the degree of traffic bias on the platform may also become important references for the court to infer fault.

2. Timeliness, effectiveness of measures, and degree of fulfillment of duty of care

In the case where the rights holder has issued a clear notice of infringement, the platform has constituted "knowing" infringement, and judicial practice mainly judges whether it has fully fulfilled its duty of care through the timeliness and effectiveness of measures. Timeliness requires the platform to take necessary measures within a reasonable time (usually determined based on industry practices and technical feasibility) after receiving effective notifications; The effectiveness requirement is that the measures taken such as deletion and blocking can effectively curb the continued occurrence of infringement and prevent the expansion of harmful consequences. If the platform delays processing or only takes formal measures, it may be deemed as failing to fully fulfill its obligations and may be held indirectly liable for infringement.

In the absence of a notice of infringement from the rights holder, the core dispute remains whether the platform "should have known" about the infringement, and the degree of fulfillment of the duty of care is the key to determining this requirement. In practice, the standard of duty of care is not uniform. For example, if a platform directly obtains economic benefits such as advertising revenue and membership fees through infringing micro dramas, or indirectly profits through traffic monetization, the court generally requires it to bear higher duty of care according to Article 11 of the Regulations. At the same time, with the popularization of algorithm recommendation technology, if a platform adopts precise algorithm push and traffic support operations for infringing content, as the platform has the ability to identify and control infringing content through technical means, judicial practice may be more inclined to determine that it should bear a higher duty of care.

3、 Compliance suggestions for platforms to avoid infringement under the prevalence of short dramas

1. Clarify the division of responsibilities among partners

If the uploading user is a cooperating third party, the platform can add a special intellectual property compliance clause in the cooperation agreement: it is clearly stipulated that "the cooperating third party guarantees that all the micro drama content uploaded does not infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of any third party such as copyright, trademark, etc.; if any infringement disputes arise due to the content uploaded by the cooperating third party, the relevant legal responsibilities shall be independently borne by the cooperating third party, and the cooperating third party shall fully compensate the platform for all economic losses, legal fees, and other expenses suffered as a result". Through this agreement, the ultimate responsible party for infringement liability is clarified, and the platform is granted complete recourse rights to reduce its subsequent liability risks.

2. Strengthen the review of general user content

The platform can strengthen the review of content uploaded by ordinary users through technical means. For example, Tiktok has cooperated with major companies to establish a content library, and used video fingerprint technology to automatically identify whether the content uploaded by users contains unauthorized videos, so as to directly avoid infringement risks from the source.

After the short drama video is uploaded, the platform can strengthen the construction of the complaint and reporting system, such as TikTok's exclusive copyright complaint channel, which provides convenient complaint entry for rights holders, clarifies the requirements for complaint materials and processing time limits, and ensures that after receiving infringement complaints, verification, delisting and other operations can be completed within a reasonable time. At the post event level, the platform can establish a blacklist system for infringing users, and take punitive measures such as restricting uploading and account suspension for users who repeatedly upload infringing content, in order to form long-term constraints.

Industry · New Policies

1. The General Administration of Market Supervision released ten typical cases of illegal Internet advertising

On October 16, 2025, the General Administration of Market Supervision announced ten typical cases of illegal Internet advertising, involving medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, health food, finance and other key areas. In the first three quarters, 22185 cases of illegal Internet advertising were investigated and handled nationwide, with fines and confiscations of 111 million yuan.

Typical cases include: using AI technology to generate false character images, publishing medical device and drug advertisements without review, false claims of therapeutic efficacy in ordinary food, financial advertising with guaranteed promises and no warning of risks, false packaging of doctor qualifications and unauthorized addition of review numbers in medical beauty advertisements, vulgar and low-level expressions that violate social norms, etc. Related companies have been fined between 100000 and 1.2 million yuan, and some cases have been transferred to local regulatory authorities for separate handling.

2. Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau releases "Promoting the Healthy Development of Short Films"

On October 16, 2025, the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau released an article titled "Promoting the Healthy Development of Short Films by the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau".

This article systematically and comprehensively introduces the regulatory actions, support and guidance, and achievement display of the Beijing Radio and Television Bureau in the field of micro dramas. By strengthening platform management, implementing pre audit and chief editor responsibility system, establishing black and white lists and inspection mechanisms, and ensuring content security. Implement classification and hierarchical review, and jointly implement the unified management standards of Shanghai and Guangdong. Strengthen policy support, upgrade the "Beijing Audiovisual" program to version 2.0, with a support scale of 30 million yuan, and promote 154 "Beijing made" micro dramas to be recognized by the General Administration. Strengthen creative guidance, launch themed works such as "Horseback Cradle" and popular hits such as "Lion City Mountain and Sea", with over 2 billion views. Promoting the integration of "micro dramas+cultural tourism", 46 works have been selected for the travel theme film list of the General Administration, and talents and excellent works have been cultivated through international competitions to support the high-quality development of the capital.

3. The Cyberspace Administration of China has issued a notice on carrying out the special action of "clearing and rectifying the chaos of online live streaming rewards"

On October 26, 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice on launching a special campaign to clean up and rectify the chaos of online live streaming and tipping, which will last for two months nationwide.

The focus of this special action is to crack down on four types of problems, including vulgar group broadcasting induced tipping, false persona induced tipping, inducing minors to give tips, and stimulating users to give irrational tips. Require the platform to improve the rules for tipping, strengthen the management of limits and consumption reminders, establish a sound refund mechanism for underage tipping, and severely punish illegal accounts, platforms, and MCN institutions in accordance with the law. Urge the platform to refine its review standards, standardize functions such as rankings, group broadcasts, and PK, strengthen the main responsibilities of the platform and broadcasters, and enhance the level of industry governance.

Comments and references (slide down to view)

[1] Article 8 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes Involving Infringement of Information Network Transmission Rights" states: "The people's court shall determine whether the network service provider shall bear the liability for instigating or aiding infringement based on its fault. The fault of the network service provider includes knowing or should have known about the infringement of information network transmission rights by network users.

If a network service provider fails to proactively review the infringement of information network dissemination rights by network users, the people's court should not determine its fault based on this.

If a network service provider can prove that reasonable and effective technical measures have been taken, but it is still difficult to detect the infringement of information network dissemination rights by network users, the people's court shall determine that it is not at fault. ”

[2] Article 11 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes Involving Infringement of Information Network Communication Rights" states: "If a network service provider directly obtains economic benefits from works, performances, audio and video products provided by network users, the people's court shall determine that it has a high duty of care for the infringement of information network communication rights by the network user.

Network service providers who advertise specific works, performances, audio and video products to obtain revenue, or obtain economic benefits that have other specific connections with the works, performances, audio and video products they disseminate, shall be recognized as directly obtaining economic benefits as stipulated in the preceding paragraph. The collection of general advertising fees, service fees, etc. by network service providers for providing network services does not fall under the circumstances specified in this paragraph