Title: Leaked Gameplay Images During Beta Testing Lead to Court Order
Recently, new versions of popular games “Genshin Impact” and “Galaxy Railgun” are still in the beta testing phase and have not yet been officially released. However, gameplay video clips that allow “early access” to the games have already been circulating on social platforms with millions of views. It is unclear whether these leaked clips are from official trailers or intentionally leaked by someone else. This issue has garnered significant attention.
Recently, miHoYo, the developer of “Genshin Impact” and “Galaxy Railgun,” applied to the Shanghai Xuhui Intermediate People’s Court (hereinafter referred to as “Shanghai Xuhui Court”) for a temporary injunction due to concerns that game characters and other elements may be leaked prematurely. The court convened a hearing for the application and after reviewing and deliberating, issued an order requiring the respondent, Mr. Wu, to immediately cease and desist from disseminating gameplay images of the unreleased versions of the two games through his registered Douyin account. The order was enforced immediately upon delivery.
“Genshin Impact” and “Galaxy Railgun” are two highly successful games with significant commercial value. The dynamic gameplay scenes, which include game characters, design movements, skill effects, and other elements, constitute a视听 work under the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China. miHoYo holds the copyright for these. However, miHoYo discovered that game information broadcaster Mr. Wu, through his registered Douyin account, has been regularly and specifically disclosing and spreading gameplay images of the unreleased versions of “Genshin Impact” and “Galaxy Railgun” for a long time. The videos were posted during the beta testing period for the new versions, with the highest single video views reaching 3.96 million and 1.385 million, respectively. miHoYo believes that Mr. Wu’s actions not only infringe upon its copyright but also violate industry norms commonly followed and accepted in the gaming sector, disrupting the game operation and promotion, and damaging its legitimate rights and interests, constituting unfair competition.
Upon receiving the application, the Shanghai Xuhui Court, based on the “Provisions on the Review of Temporary Injunctions in Intellectual Property Dispute Cases,” conducted a focused review on whether the applicant had a factual basis and legal grounds for the application, whether it would cause irreparable damage to the applicant’s legitimate rights and interests, whether it would lead to a significant imbalance between the parties, and whether it would harm public interests. After reviewing, the court found that game information broadcaster Mr. Wu had been persistently releasing gameplay images of “Genshin Impact” and “Galaxy Railgun” on the Douyin platform, which contained characters, weapons, monsters, maps, plots, game mechanics, and other unreleased elements designed by miHoYo. The two games have high popularity and commercial value. Mr. Wu’s disclosure of the unreleased game scenes before their official release lowered the players’ experience upon their official release and disrupted the plaintiff’s operational strategy; additionally, Mr. Wu may still obtain unreleased game scenes from friends around him, and the duration and scale of his infringement cannot be ruled out from expanding, resulting in significant losses for the plaintiff if left unaddressed.
In conclusion, the Shanghai Xuhui Court made the aforementioned order.
This case serves as a reminder that both game developers and game information broadcasters should respect the intellectual property rights of game developers and jointly promote the healthy development of the gaming industry.