LayarHijau – A suspected mass-content operation involving artificial intelligence (AI) is raising concerns in China’s web-novel and short-drama industries. A leading short-drama company is reportedly recruiting thousands of people and using its own AI model to produce large numbers of novels.
Sohu Entertainment reported on the allegations after details of the operation circulated on social media. According to a source cited by Sohu Entertainment, the company could reportedly upload as many as 1,000 novels a day, with each one said to run between 300,000 and 400,000 Chinese characters.
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The alleged operation reportedly goes beyond simply using AI to write stories from scratch. The company is said to first identify popular novels that have already proven successful, then rework them into new stories. If one of those new titles performs well with readers, it can later be developed into a short-drama script.
Popular Web Novels Allegedly Used as Source Material
According to the information cited by Sohu Entertainment, the company allegedly searches various platforms for novels that have already attracted a large readership. Starting with stories that have already proven popular gives the company a way to reduce the uncertainty involved in developing completely new ideas.
The novels are then reportedly used as the basis for creating different versions of the stories. The company allegedly hires large numbers of freelance writers to rework elements such as character names and personalities, settings, conflicts, and plot details so that the resulting stories appear different from the originals.
The company’s own AI model is then reportedly used to process those stories on a much larger scale. The resulting material is turned into large numbers of novels that are presented as new works.
The alleged scale of production is one of the most striking aspects of the report. A source cited by Sohu Entertainment claimed that the company could upload as many as 1,000 novels in a single day.
Why Could This Create Copyright Problems?
The issue is not simply whether a novel was created using AI.
If someone uses another person’s work as the basis for a new story without permission and only changes certain elements to make it look different, that can still raise copyright concerns. Changing character names or settings, for example, does not automatically make a work completely original.
The risk becomes greater when important elements of the original remain substantially similar, including the sequence of events, character development, conflicts, relationships between characters, or other distinctive parts of the story.
Using AI does not automatically eliminate those concerns. AI is simply a tool that can make the process of modifying and reproducing content much faster and possible on a much larger scale.
Thousands of Novels Could Be Used to Test Reader Interest
The resulting novels are reportedly uploaded to different platforms using accounts that appear to belong to new authors.
The titles then compete like any other online fiction. Readers provide feedback, while platform algorithms collect data on how well each work performs.
This allows the company to test a large number of stories at the same time. Instead of spending money turning every story into a short drama, the company can first see which ones perform well with readers and then consider developing the strongest performers further.
If one of the novels performs particularly well, its story can then be turned into a short-drama script and produced.
Under the alleged model, web-novel platforms effectively become a testing ground for stories before they are developed into short dramas.
The Risks Fall on Authors, Platforms and Readers
Sohu Entertainment argues that a business model like this could spread the risks of the early stages across multiple parties.
Original authors could lose readers if their stories are allegedly used as the basis for large numbers of similar works. Writers producing original material would also have to compete against a huge volume of mass-produced content.
Meanwhile, web-novel platforms would have to deal with an enormous influx of new titles. If one company could really upload as many as 1,000 novels a day, the amount of content platforms would need to monitor and review would become enormous.
Once one of those works shows strong potential, however, the company behind it could benefit from the next stage by turning the story into a short drama.
Similar Practices Are Also Reportedly Used by Other Short-Drama Studios
The case highlighted by Sohu Entertainment is reportedly not an isolated issue. The report says some small and medium-sized short-drama studios are also suspected of using similar methods to reduce the cost of acquiring story rights.
Studios that cannot afford to officially purchase adaptation rights for popular novels may instead take the core story of a popular work, change various elements, and use it as the basis for a short-drama script.
In some cases, they reportedly do not even create or publish a new novel first.
Production teams may take chapters from novels that are freely available online, use AI to continue the story, and then directly turn the resulting material into a short-drama script.
However, the fact that a novel can be read for free online does not mean that it can be freely copied or adapted without permission. Such practices can therefore also raise copyright concerns.
Mass Production Could Make Content More Homogeneous
From a business perspective, this approach offers clear short-term advantages. Companies can reduce the cost of developing stories, produce large amounts of content quickly, and use reader data to decide which stories are worth developing further.
But if more companies adopt the same model, the impact could be damaging to the industry as a whole.
Companies may have less incentive to invest time and money in developing original stories if proven popular works can be used as the basis for multiple new versions at a lower cost and in less time.
As a result, web novels and short dramas could become increasingly similar. Competition for readers’ and viewers’ attention would become even more intense, while audiences could grow tired of seeing the same story patterns much faster.
The practice could also make plagiarism and copyright disputes even more common across the short-drama industry.
Platforms Are Tightening Their AI Monitoring
Amid these concerns, several Chinese web-novel platforms are reportedly strengthening their monitoring of AI-generated content.
According to Sohu Entertainment, some major platforms have upgraded their detection systems to examine not only language patterns but also character relationships, plot development, pacing, and the overall structure of a story.
Platforms are also reportedly taking action against accounts that create large numbers of accounts and upload suspected AI-rewritten works in bulk. Measures can include removing content, restricting its distribution, and banning accounts.
This is important because the challenge is not simply identifying whether a text was written by AI. Platforms also need to detect patterns in which large numbers of apparently different works may actually be based on highly similar stories.
Short-Drama Industry Also Faces Tighter Oversight
The increased scrutiny is not limited to web-novel platforms.
China’s short-drama industry is also facing tighter rules concerning the use of AI. Sohu Entertainment noted the implementation of requirements related to the registration of AI-generated short dramas, as well as rules requiring AI-generated content to be clearly labeled.
This means short-drama companies are under increasing pressure to examine where their stories come from before scripts are produced and released.
If a story is based on someone else’s work, the rights to adapt it need to be clear. Using AI during the writing process does not remove that obligation.
The Real Issue Is Not AI Itself
Ultimately, the issue raised by the report is not that using AI to create novels or scripts is automatically illegal.
The concern arises when the technology is used to take an existing work, modify it to make it appear different, and then produce large numbers of new works without the rights holder’s permission.
AI makes that process much faster. What once required significant amounts of human labor and time can potentially be done on an industrial scale with the help of the technology.
That makes protecting original works increasingly important as AI continues to develop. Platforms also need to ensure that mass-produced content does not overwhelm original works and make it harder for legitimate writers to compete.
For the short-drama industry, the issue is not simply how quickly a story can be produced. Without original stories and clear adaptation rights, mass production can create both legal risks and a market increasingly filled with repetitive content.
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