China has launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on online copyright infringement and piracy, with a focus on films and TV dramas, cultural and creative products, books and artificial intelligence-related copyright violations.
The campaign, named "Sword Net 2026", places AI-related copyright governance among its priorities. Authorities will promote copyright compliance in training materials for large AI models and investigate illegal copying, adaptation and dissemination of works using AI and other new technologies. They will also target unauthorized "remixing", plagiarism-like rewriting, deepfakes and attempts to evade monitoring.
The campaign was launched by the National Copyright Administration (NCAC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration (CAC) of China. It marks the 22nd time the four departments have carried out targeted action on key works and major online platforms.
