The rising use of artificial intelligence tools in the short video industry has sparked significant controversy, especially with recent incidents of celebrities having their likenesses used without permission in AI-generated short dramas.

On Monday, Hongguo Short Drama, a Chinese short-form drama platform under ByteDance, said that it had dealt with 670 short dramas in accordance with platform rules after a targeted review found they misused AI-generated materials. The platform said it had already taken down 1,718 comic-inspired short dramas that violated rules in the first quarter of 2026.

Hongguo is not alone. Once infringing videos are exposed, short video platforms often choose to remove them, as if this alone will resolve the issue. But such a response is far from enough.

In a landmark decision last month, Beijing’s Internet Court addressed a portrait rights dispute that had captured public attention. The case involved a short video that used AI-generated........

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