In January 2026, the Yanfeng District People's Court of Hengyang City, Hunan Province concluded a copyright infringement dispute case. Li, the operator of a store on the Pinduoduo platform, was ordered to pay a total of 2,500 yuan in economic losses and reasonable rights protection expenses to the plaintiff Zhang for arbitrarily using 21 artistic works of Xiaohongshu blogger "Bujianai He Lengcui". This lawsuit arising from the "random use of online images" has sounded the alarm for intellectual property compliance in the e-commerce industry.
I. Case Recap: From "Original Blogger" to "Infringing Defendant"
The plaintiff Zhang is the copyright owner of the "Bujianai He Lengcui" series of artistic works and also operates a homonymous account on Xiaohongshu. Boasting 49,000 followers, the account's works have garnered a total of 371,000 likes and collections. Zhang has been releasing a series of original artistic works for a long time, enjoying a certain influence in the illustration field.
In December 2024, Zhang discovered that Li, the defendant, had arbitrarily used 21 images identical to the "Bujianai He Lengcui" artistic works on the mouse pad products sold in his Pinduoduo store. Upon investigation and verification, these images were directly used for product promotion and display without any authorization. Zhang then collected evidence of the infringement and filed a lawsuit with the court, demanding that the defendant immediately cease the infringing acts and compensate for economic losses.
II. Key Judgment Points: Online Images Cannot Be Used "Randomly"
After trial, the Yanfeng District People's Court held that the focus of disputes in this case centered on three aspects:
Determination of the nature of the works
The "Bujianai He Lengcui" series of artistic works feature unique design and aesthetic appeal, embodying the creator's independent conception, and fall into the category of artistic works protected by the Copyright Law. According to Article 4 of the Implementation Regulations of the Copyright Law, artistic works refer to plastic arts works in two or three dimensions with aesthetic significance, such as paintings, calligraphy and sculptures, composed of lines, colors or other means. The involved works have original expressions and meet the constitutive elements of a work.
Review of ownership evidence
The plaintiff submitted evidence including the work registration certificates and certificates of first publication of the involved artistic works. In the absence of contradictory evidence submitted by the defendant Li, the court legally determined that Zhang was the copyright owner of the involved artistic works and had the right to file a lawsuit against the infringing acts in his own name. This reflects the provisions on ownership evidence in Article 7 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Copyright Dispute Cases.
Adjudication of infringing acts
Upon comparison, the images of the alleged infringing products were completely identical to the plaintiff's works. The defendant's use of the involved works for mouse pad product promotion without permission constitutes an infringing act of "reproducing, distributing, performing, showing, broadcasting, compiling, and disseminating one's works to the public through information networks without the permission of the copyright owner" as stipulated in Article 53 of the Copyright Law.
III. Compensation Considerations: Discretionary Factors for Statutory Compensation
Regarding the amount of compensation, the court pointed out that the plaintiff failed to prove the defendant's illegal gains and could not accurately calculate the actual losses suffered due to the infringement. Under such circumstances, the court applied statutory compensation in accordance with Article 54 of the Copyright Law and discretionarily determined the compensation amount of 2,500 yuan by comprehensively considering the following factors:
Reputation and market value of the works
The plaintiff's account has 49,000 followers, and the works have received a total of 371,000 likes and collections, indicating that the involved works have certain market influence and commercial value.
Nature and scale of the infringing acts
The defendant arbitrarily used 21 works, a relatively large number, for commodity sales promotion with an obvious commercial purpose.
Subjective fault of the defendant
As an e-commerce platform operator, Li should have known that authorization is required to use others' works, yet failed to perform the duty of reasonable care, which constituted subjective negligence.
Reasonable expenses for rights protection
The court included the reasonable expenses paid by the plaintiff to stop the infringing acts in the compensation scope, reflecting the compensation for the rights protection costs of the right holder.
IV. Industry Warning: Compliance Boundaries for E-commerce Operations
Although the compensation amount in this case is not high, the judicial signal released is very clear: online images are not a "free lunch", and random use may trigger litigation risks. Judges specially reminded that e-commerce operators must not use online images at will, and should obtain the right to use images through the following legal channels:
Genuine authorization channels
Negotiate directly with copyright owners to obtain authorization, or purchase the right to use through genuine image libraries and material libraries.
Independent original creation
Enterprises are encouraged to cultivate their own design teams and create original visual content to fundamentally avoid infringement risks.
Duty of reasonable review
For outsourced designs or user-uploaded content, platforms and operators should establish review mechanisms and require the provision of ownership certificates or source explanations.
It is worth noting that the plaintiff, as an original blogger on Xiaohongshu, has works with distinct personal style and high fan stickiness, which fall into the category of "influential works" protected by the Copyright Law. With the vigorous development of content e-commerce, the commercial value of original illustrations and design patterns has become increasingly prominent. Respecting originality and operating in compliance have become a compulsory course for participants in e-commerce platforms.
From 21 online images to 2,500 yuan in compensation, this case proves once again that in an era of increasingly strengthened intellectual property protection, the cost of the "take-it-for-granted approach" is high. Only by establishing copyright awareness and building compliance mechanisms can e-commerce operators move forward steadily in the wave of the digital economy.
