"I Sold My Face for Just 100,000 Won"... My Likeness Appears as a Gangster or Adulteress Amid China Craze

Portrait Rights of Ordinary Individuals Priced Around 100,000 Won
Photos Uploaded to Portrait Rights Trading Platforms
Numerous Issues Persist with Post-Registration Management

As the artificial intelligence (AI) short-form drama craze spreads in China, a growing number of ordinary people are selling the rights to their faces (portrait rights) for AI training and production purposes.

According to the Beijing Daily on September 7, approximately 279 faces have been registered on a portrait rights trading platform (face recognition and rights authorization), with most prices set around 500 yuan (about 100,000 won). The highest price was 6,000 yuan (about 1.2 million won) for the face of an elderly person.

Animated characters created with AI. Although they have different roles, controversy arose due to their similar faces and expressions. Baidu, China.

People Created by AI. Baidu, China.

Demand for Faces Surges as AI Short-Form Dramas Grow

This phenomenon is driven by the rapid expansion of the AI short-form market and growing viewer fatigue. The major causes are repetitive characters, clichéd storylines, and artificial, homogenous facial expressions. According to statistics, about 128,000 short-form dramas were produced in the first quarter of this year, and over 95% of them were AI creations. As a result, production companies are actively purchasing not only the faces of famous celebrities, supporting actors, and extras, but also those of the general public.

The registration process for the platform was also found to be relatively simple. It only requires identity verification, uploading images, approval, and final registration. Users can take and upload close-up, front, side, and full-body photos without makeup, set their own usage fee, and select genres they do not want to participate in. In this way, individuals can directly determine the 'scope of facial usage' on an authorized platform, but it remains difficult to know in advance how and in which works their face will be used.

Some platforms have introduced mechanisms that further segment the scope of permissions, implementing a pre-approval process. For example, options are provided for negative roles (such as gangsters, adulterers, spies), degree of exposure (such as swimwear), the extent of physical contact, and whether or not the character dies in the production. However, if the user consents to these permissions, they may end up appearing in sensitive, provocative, or uncomfortable scenes they could not anticipate.

Issues with Post-Registration Management

AI generated image.

AI Generated Image.

The greater issue relates to managing the registration after the fact. The media outlet pointed out, "While it is easy to register your face, retrieving it proved to be challenging." It was difficult to find menus for withdrawal or deregistration after signing up, and even when submitting cancellation requests to customer service, no response was received.

Attorney Zheng Wei from Beijing Xingye Law Firm emphasized, "Although there is strong demand for 'face sales,' the procedures for subsequent management and withdrawal have not yet been established." He explained, "Legally, 'selling your face' does not mean transferring portrait rights themselves, but rather granting others permission to process your facial image and sensitive personal information within an agreed-upon scope."

In particular, for ordinary individuals, contract terms should clearly outline what is permitted and what is explicitly prohibited. There must also be procedures to check for any changes to images or content that were not notified at the time of the contract. Attorney Zheng further explained, "Details about profit sharing, revoking (image) rights, and deleting data must be specifically stipulated in the agreement," adding, "When users lodge complaints, platforms should retain transaction and distribution records and conduct investigations into the relevant sources."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.