Zhiheng News | Entertainment Law Industry News June 2026
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"Micro-drama development management measures (exposure draft) " released
On June 24, 2026, the State Administration of Radio, Television and Television organized the drafting of the "Exposure Draft" in accordance with the "Radio and Television Management Regulations" and other administrative regulations, and publicly solicited opinions from the public. The deadline for feedback is July 23, 2026.
Content summary:
The exposure draft consists of 8 chapters and 53 articles, which for the first time comprehensively regulates the micro-short drama industry in the form of departmental regulations, defining micro-short dramas as "episodes with a single episode length of less than 20 minutes, a clear theme main line, a continuous and complete story line, and outstanding characters". It is suitable for micro-short dramas broadcast to the public through various channels such as Internet, radio and television, IPTV, and various end points such as TV sets, mobile phones, and vehicle equipment.
The core of the measures is to establish a three-level classification management system based on investment quotas and subject matter: first-class micro-dramas (with large investment or involving special themes such as politics, military, diplomacy, etc.) must be filed and publicized before filming, applied for content review before broadcasting, and obtained the "Micro-mini-drama Distribution License"; second-class micro-dramas (with small investment and general themes) must be reviewed and approved before broadcasting; three types of micro-mini-dramas (with low investment and general themes) shall be reviewed and marked with program numbers by the broadcasting unit before broadcasting.
At the same time, the measures clearly enumerate 11 items of prohibited content, standardize the use of language and text, information labeling, promotion information, etc., require broadcasting units to implement the editor-in-chief content responsibility system, verify license certificates, add prompt labels to AI-generated content, and may not use the algorithm model that induces addiction, protect consumer rights and interests and data security according to law, and stipulate the legal liability for unauthorized broadcast, production and dissemination of prohibited content, failure to produce or transfer to trial according to the record (up to 100,0
00yuan fine).
While strengthening management, the measures also encourage artistic and technological innovation, public participation in creation, micro-drama empowering thousands of industries, export-oriented international development and copyright protection system construction, marking that the micro-drama industry has entered a new stage of institutionalized and legalized management from special project governance.
Source: State Administration of Radio and Television
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The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television released the AI micro-drama classification and stratification standard
On June 25, 2026, the Network Audiovisual Department of the State Administration of Radio, Television and Television issued the "Management Tips (AI Micro-Drama Classification and Stratification Standards) ", which will be implemented from July 1.
Content summary:
The standard is based on the industry status quo of artificial intelligence technology widely used in the field of micro-short dramas and greatly reducing production costs. In order to implement the hierarchical management requirements of micro-short dramas, AI micro-short dramas are divided into three levels according to the investment amount and theme: the investment amount reaches 800,000 yuan and above, or the AI micro-short dramas with special themes such as politics, military, diplomacy, national security, united front, ethnicity, religion, justice, public security, etc. are mainly involved in politics, military, diplomacy, national security, united front, and public security, and are managed in accordance with "key micro-short dramas" (corresponding to a type of micro-short drama, which must be filed and publicized and issued with a license); the investment amount is 300,000 yuan (inclusive) AI micro-dramas between yuan and general themes shall be managed in accordance with "ordinary micro-dramas" (corresponding to the second type of micro-dramas, approval documents must be obtained); AI micro-dramas with an investment amount of less than 300,000 yuan and general themes shall be managed in accordance with "other micro-dramas" (corresponding to the three types of micro-dramas, which shall be reviewed by the broadcasting unit and marked with the program number).
The standard is linked to the "Exposure Draft" released the day before, which for the first time quantifies the classification investment threshold of AI mini-dramas and provides clear compliance path guidance for AI micro-drama practitioners.
Source: Xinhuanet
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Network data security threat and risk assessment measures released
On June 18, 2026, the Cyberspace Administration of China and other departments issued the Measures for Network Data Security threat and risk assessment (hereinafter referred to as the Measures), which will come into force on August 20, 2026.
Content summary:
The measures are based on the "Data Security Law", "cyber security law", "network data security management regulations" and other laws and regulations, applicable to China's network data security threat and risk assessment activities, the threat and risk assessment is defined as "network data and network data processing activities security risk identification, risk analysis and risk assessment".
In the management structure, the national network information department in conjunction with telecommunications, public security and other departments to establish a special project mechanism for overall guidance, the competent departments of the industry in accordance with the "who manages the business, who manages the business data, who manages the data security" principle regularly organize the industry assessment, and by the end of January each year the annual inspection plan submitted to the national network information department to coordinate to avoid duplicate inspection (inspection shall not be charged).
In terms of subject obligations, important data processors are required to conduct threat and risk assessments annually, and when there are major changes in the security status of important data, the affected part should be reassessed in a timely manner. Generally, data processors are encouraged to evaluate at least once every 3 years; assessments can be carried out by themselves or entrusted to a third-party evaluation agency. The evaluation agency must be certified, not sub-entrusted, and shall not evaluate the same processor for more than 3 consecutive years. It is responsible for the authenticity, effectiveness and completeness of the report. At the same time, it undertakes confidentiality obligations and deletes or properly disposes of relevant information in a timely manner after the evaluation.
Important data processors shall submit a threat and risk assessment report to the relevant competent authorities within 20 working days after the completion of the annual assessment (the competent authorities do not clearly submit it to the provincial or national network information department), and the report shall be kept for at least 3 years.
In the case of mandatory assessment, when there are significant security risks in network data processing activities that may endanger national security or public interests, or when a data security incident occurs that results in the leakage of important data or large-scale personal information, the relevant departments may require the processor to entrust an accredited assessment agency to conduct the assessment. The processor shall provide the necessary support, complete it within a time limit, submit a report and rectify it as required (within 15 working days after the rectification is completed), and shall not require the assessment agency to issue a false report in any way.
In terms of legal responsibility, important data processors who refuse to rectify or fail to meet the requirements of rectification can take measures such as stopping the processing of important data, and those who fail to carry out threat and risk assessment as required shall be processed in accordance with the Data Security Law and the Network Data Security Management Regulations; those involving core data, state secrets, and commercial passwords shall be implemented in accordance with relevant state regulations.
For the entertainment law industry, network data processors such as micro-drama platforms, film and television production companies, and streaming media broadcasting agencies need to pay close attention to this method, especially platforms with large user data may constitute important data processors, and must perform annual mandatory assessments and reporting obligations within
20working days.
Source: China Network Information Network
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The three associations jointly issued a document to standardize the signing of actors in TV dramas (online dramas)
On June 12, 2026, the China Television Drama Production Industry Association, the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association, and the Actors Committee of the China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations jointly issued the "Notice on Regulating the Signing of TV Drama (Network Drama) Actors", which will be officially implemented on July 10, 2026 (with a one-month buffer adaptation period).
Content summary:
The notice specifies three core rules for the chaos of the industry: first, the signing titles are unified into three categories: "lead starring", "special starring" and "starring", and no addition or subtraction or self-creation of the name; second, the sorting is unified according to the legal name and surname strokes are arranged from as few to as many (multiple surnames are arranged according to the first character, and ethnic minorities are arranged according to the first character of the ID card). The opening and ending of the credits must be marked "sorted by surname strokes"; third, the signing format must use the legal name, and the use of the stage name must use the "real name (stage name) " standard format.
In principle, the number of "special actors" in the title should not exceed 10, and the signing rules of all promotional materials such as posters, trailers, and social media must be consistent with the title. Actors and agencies must not create public opinion opposition by signing, and special circumstances must be filed in writing. The three associations will establish a normal supervision mechanism. Those who fail to implement it properly will be notified by the industry and even included in risk warnings.
The notice has a direct impact on the signing clause design, contract negotiation and dispute resolution in the film and television project contract.
Source: Xinhuanet
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Four departments including the National Copyright Administration launched the "Jianwang 2026" special project
The National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office jointly launched the "Jianwang 2026" special project (June to November), which is the 22nd special project governance for the four departments to jointly combat online infringement and piracy.
Content summary:
The action focuses on four key areas: first, copyright protection of film and television dramas, focusing on rectifying online disks, browsers, search engines and other platforms that actively provide or help spread pirated film and television resources, unauthorized handling, cutting, adaptation and dissemination of compilations, and through live broadcast, search, drainage, set-top boxes and other means of implementation of film and television piracy; second, merchandise copyright protection, rectification of homogeneous plagiarism, follow-the-trend plagiarism, false copyright registration, counterfeiting of well-known IP, false IP joint names, counterfeiting authorization and selling through online and offline channels such as live broadcast rooms, e-commerce, cultural tourism scenic spots, etc.; third, book copyright protection, continuous crackdown on best-selling books Piracy of children's books and teaching aids, focusing on the investigation and punishment of "on-demand pirated printing", real and fake mixed sales, malicious collusion and the sale of pirated books and e-book resources through network drainage; four is the copyright rectification in the field of artificial intelligence, to promote the solution of large model training corpus copyright compliance issues, investigation and punishment of the use of AI tools to illegally copy, adapt, disseminate works and "magic reform" "washing", deepfake, evading monitoring and other infringement and illegal acts.
The action will highlight the investigation and handling of cases, promote platform enterprises to establish an internal copyright management system, and strictly investigate and punish illegal and criminal subjects who engage in infringement and piracy in accordance with the law, so as to build a social co-governance pattern.
Source: National Copyright Administration
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The 31st Magnolia Awards were announced
On the evening of June 26, 2026, the 31st Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards Ceremony was held at the Lingang Center in Shanghai.
In terms of blockbuster awards, "Taiping Year" won the Best Chinese TV Drama Award and the International Communication Award (TV Drama Category), and "Silent Glory" won the Grand Jury Award;Yu HeweiWith the role of "Wu Shi" in "The Glory of Silence", he won the Best Actor (after 5 years, he won the Magnolia "Vision Emperor").Yang ZiWith the "Tree of Life" "White Chrysanthemum" won the best actress, becoming the first "90" Magnolia "after"; Li Xue with "Tree of Life" won the best director, Dong Yong with "Taiping Year" "Feng Dao" won the best supporting actor, Chi Peng with "All Things" "Bigfoot" won the best supporting actress; Dong Zhe with "Taiping Year" won the best screenplay (original), Wang He with "All Things" won the best screenplay (adaptation); Best Art by Lou Pan ("Life is like the first time") won, Best Cinematography by Chai Ran ("Drug Sweeping Storm") won; Bai Yu and Yang Mi were awarded the title of Overseas Promotion Ambassador for Chinese TV Programs.
Source: Shanghai TV Festival
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Beijing police report Huang Zitao's illegal suspension
Beijing police reported that the artist Huang Zitao has been subject *****ministrative penalties in accordance with the law for a number of traffic violations such as illegal parking on *****tai West Road in Chaoyang District, violating the instructions of the prohibition sign, and changing the color of the body without registering according to regulations. He has since publicly apologized and completed the processing.
Source: Weibo's trending topic list (June 19, 2026)
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The "2025 Game Security White Paper" was released! The 2026 (8th) Game Security Industry Summit was successfully held
The "2025 Game Security White Paper" is guided by the Game Working Committee of the China Audio and Digital Association and the Guangdong Provincial Game Industry Association. Tencent Game Security ACE is written in conjunction with Tencent Cloud, Gamma Data and DataEye. It was released at the 8th Game Security Summit on June 8, 2026. The full text contains more than 30,000 words in nine chapters.
White paper shows that in 2025, the actual sales revenue of China's game market exceeded 350 billion yuan, and the user scale reached 683 million, the domestic game black production market size is estimated to have exceeded 10 billion yuan; the number of PC-side plug-in samples increased by 124.4% year-on-year to 138,000 models, the number of functions increased by 276.8%, and the number of 592,000 items reached a record high. The number of mobile end plug-in functions doubled for two consecutive years to 230,000 items and the proportion of customized plug-ins was as high as 87.1%. The number of overseas mobile game plug-in functions also doubled. The black production business model is changing from "tool sales" to "service-oriented black production" (cheating is service) Transformation; the annual black production penalty 158 million times, and 42 billion abusive information were detected.
The core judgment of the white paper is that 2025 is the key node for AI to change from "emerging variables" in game attack and defense to "core variables", AI visual plug-in has become the most serious threat, AIGC has made the marginal cost of illegal content production approach zero, "AI to AI" has become the main trend of industry attack and defense; at the same time, AI technology is also empowering the defense side, and the number theft rate of the head game with "Transformer + large language model" dual engine has dropped by more than 50% year-on-year.
Source: Guangdong Game Industry Association
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NetEase v. Tencent abuse of market dominance dispute case reopened
The core dispute in the case is whether Tencent Music has used technical barriers, copyright monopoly, and user data control to crowd out competitors and harm consumer rights.
The background of this case is the digital entertainment "copyright war" between NetEase and Tencent for more than a decade, covering the copyright injunction dispute in 2014, the closure of the NetEase Cloud Music sharing interface by WeChat in 2015, the copyright overdue sale incident of Jay Chou in 2018 (NetEase Cloud Compensation 850,000 yuan), the 2021 State Regulation for Market Regulation determined that Tencent's acquisition of China Music Group constituted an illegal concentration of business operators and ordered the termination of the exclusive music copyright agreement, the 2022 NetEase Cloud Music public accusation of unfair competition by Tencent Music, and a series of confrontations between the two parties between 20
24and 2025.
It is worth noting that this court session comes at a critical juncture in the normalization of anti-monopoly in the platform economy. A month ago, the State Administration of Market Regulation approved Tencent's acquisition of Himalayas with additional restrictive conditions and asked to lift the exclusive license of online audio. However, data show that Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music still together account for more than 80% of China's online music market, and the duopoly pattern has not fundamentally changed.
Source: NetEase News
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Using AI to produce typical cases of military misinformation
On June 9, 2026, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China issued "Typical cases of military-related misinformation generated by AI production". The notice is that since the launch of the special project of military-related ecological governance on the Internet in 2026, the functional areas of business of the army and the Central Cyberspace Administration of China have jointly rectified the use of AI to produce and publish military-related misinformation, mislead public cognition, and damage the image of the army. A number of illegal and illegal accounts have been disposed of according to law.
The report discloses three types of typical cases: one is the use of AI to fabricate false military-related stories to drain marketing, such as fabricating "pregnant women crying about their husbands' sacrifice in military missions" to deceive and forward likes, and fabricating "children admitted to military schools after eating supplements" to increase health care product advertising marketing; the second is the use of AI to synthesize military-related vulgar videos, such as the production of uniformed personnel "threatening to shoot with guns" "dancing with certificates of merit" and fake "frontline reporting by war reporters asking for likes" and other misleading content; the third is the use of AI to demonize military-related public figures, such as the Ministry of Defense press spokesperson, "the most beautiful woman pilot" and other military personnel Video powder suction drainage.
The above behaviors all use AI technology to generate false or vulgar military-related content in batches to attract traffic, seriously damaging the image and public awareness of the military. The relevant departments have dealt with the relevant accounts in accordance with the law.
Source: Netletter China June 2026, Author: Xu Xin, Secretary General of the Entertainment Law Affairs Department; Review: Zhang Ping, Director of the Entertainment Law Affairs Department
Zhiheng Entertainment Law Department
｜PROFILE
Zhiheng Entertainment Law Department was officially established on May 22, 2026, which is an important layout for
to deepen professional and refined legal services. The department focuses on the frontier legal needs of the entertainment industry, and its business covers multiple fields such as intellectual property, artist brokerage, project investment and financing, data compliance, and content risk control. It is committed to providing complex and forward-looking comprehensive legal services for the cultural industry.
The affairs department is headed by lawyer Zhang Ping, lawyer Zhang Xiaomei is the deputy director, and lawyers Gu Yujia, Zhou Shulu, Xiao Qinqin, and Xu Xin are the secretary general. Adhering to the concept of "Dharma Vision Entertainment, Knowledge Constant and Far-reaching", the team escorts industry innovation and compliance with professional strength, and strives to become the legal peer who understands the cultural industry best.
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