As an emerging form of online audiovisual works in the digital age, micro dramas have won the favor of the public with their characteristics of short episodes, fast plot rhythms, and wide dissemination platforms, and have become an important force in promoting the innovative development of the online audiovisual industry. However, behind the prosperity of the market, the issue of copyright infringement in micro dramas has become increasingly prominent. Infringement and piracy phenomena such as manuscript washing and handling, infringement adaptation, and plagiarism occur from time to time. The real problems of poor copyright transactions and difficulties in overseas rights protection have become increasingly prominent, becoming bottlenecks that restrict the healthy development of the industry. The copyright infringement disputes of micro dramas mainly manifest in three forms, the first of which is illegal dissemination without permission. This includes sharing complete episodes through online storage, selling pirated resources on e-commerce platforms, "moving" them through independent websites or third-party apps, as well as cutting complete episodes into segments for dissemination on short video platforms. These behaviors significantly divert legitimate traffic and directly infringe upon the copyright owner's reproduction rights and information network dissemination rights. What is even more worrying is that many piracy activities have developed into a gray industry chain from resource acquisition, slicing and processing to multi-channel distribution. The second type is plagiarism through remakes. This is one of the most typical forms of infringement in the field of micro dramas, manifested as a comprehensive imitation or even "pixel level reproduction" of the original work's plot design, storyboard composition, dialogue and other core original expressions. This type of plagiarism has a low investment cost and a low threshold for plagiarism, usually beyond the scope of fair use. It constitutes a "substantial similarity" to the original work under copyright law and is suspected of infringing on the reproduction and adaptation rights of the original work. The third type is title imitation and framework plagiarism. Title counterfeiting refers to using the same or similar title of a well-known work to mislead the audience, which is suspected of unfair competition and even trademark infringement. Frame plagiarism is even more covert, retaining the core plot structure and character relationships of the original work, only replacing elements such as story background and character names. Due to the principle of "dualism of thought and expression" followed by copyright law, which only protects specific and personalized forms of expression, and does not protect abstract ideas or creative frameworks, such imitation behaviors that deliberately avoid direct similarity at the textual level are more difficult to legally determine infringement. Faced with the increasing number of copyright disputes over micro dramas, judicial practice faces multiple practical challenges in response. Firstly, it is difficult to apply the rule of "contact+substantial similarity". The core standard for determining copyright infringement is "contact+substantial similarity", which means that it is necessary to prove that the infringer had the opportunity to contact the original work and that the core originality expression of their work is substantially similar to that of the original work. But in the field of micro dramas, the application of this standard faces challenges. In terms of determining "substantial similarity", as an audiovisual work, the originality of micro dramas is contained in both written scripts and continuous images. Infringement determination often requires comprehensive and detailed comparison of multiple elements such as plot arrangement, storyboard design, dialogue text, and camera language, which is highly professional and labor-intensive. More complicated is that the commonly used narrative routines and costume prop designs in micro dramas are largely public materials and are not protected by copyright law. Only when the character design is closely integrated with the plot, forming sufficiently specific and distinctive features, can it constitute an expression protected by law. The blurring of legal protection boundaries creates significant uncertainty in determining infringement. Secondly, the timeliness of judicial remedies and the degree of compensation are insufficient. The commercial value of micro dramas has significant timeliness characteristics, often highly concentrated during the "golden dissemination period" after the works are released, and then their commercial value may rapidly decline. The trial period for copyright infringement cases is usually longer. Even if the rights holder applies for and obtains action preservation in a timely manner, given the highly covert nature of the infringement and the instant and widespread dissemination, the actual losses caused by the infringement are often difficult to fully recover, and the rights holder may fall into the dilemma of "winning the lawsuit and losing the market". In addition, the economic losses and reasonable rights protection costs awarded by the court often have a gap compared to the high profits that the infringing party may obtain, making it difficult to effectively deter potential infringement behavior. Thirdly, the concealment of the infringing subject makes it difficult to pursue accountability. The fragmented nature of the micro drama industry chain makes it more difficult to identify the infringing parties. The production of micro dramas involves the participation of multiple parties from script provision, filming and production, platform distribution to traffic monetization, and there is a possibility of evading responsibility through anonymity, impersonation, or cross-border operations in many aspects, greatly increasing the difficulty for rights holders to protect their rights. In addition, the dissemination channels of micro dramas are diverse, and infringing content can quickly spread on numerous platforms both domestically and internationally. Especially for infringements that occur on overseas platforms, the combination of cross-border jurisdictional barriers, conflicts of legal application, difficulties in obtaining evidence, and high costs of rights protection make the road to rights protection extremely difficult and the outcome unpredictable. The prosperity of the micro drama industry is based on a healthy and orderly copyright ecosystem. In the face of the current copyright protection dilemma in the industry, we should adhere to systematic thinking, involve multiple parties, and implement comprehensive policies. Strengthen the coordination of judicial and administrative protection. Clear guidance and efficient implementation are urgently needed to address the rapid development of new business formats and the ambiguity of existing rules. This requires further standardization of the source of authorization, led by relevant administrative authorities, to promote the development of standard authorization contract templates, clarify the legal application standards for new business formats, and clarify the authorization boundaries for forms such as "online dramas", "online micro dramas", and "vertical screen dramas". The authorization contract should clearly state the specific content of the authorization, such as the type of work, usage method, etc., to avoid disputes arising from unclear authorization scope. In terms of judicial protection, by publishing typical cases of copyright protection for micro dramas, the criteria for determining infringement are refined, and the applicable rules of the "dichotomy of thought and expression" in the field of micro dramas are clarified. In particular, it is necessary to define the scope of protected original expression in common plot patterns, as well as how to determine whether audiovisual elements such as storyboard design and camera language constitute plagiarism, in order to provide guidance for judicial practice. In terms of administrative protection, relying on the "Jianwang" special action of the National Copyright Administration, the standardization of the micro drama copyright market is a key task, and a working mechanism of "online discovery rapid disposal collaborative crackdown" is established. We will focus on cracking down on infringement activities using pirated mini programs, online storage group sharing, and cross-border platforms, investigate and punish a number of influential and intimidating typical cases, and further purify the market environment. Strengthen technological innovation and evidence collection methods. Due to the fast dissemination, fragmentation, and large scale of micro dramas, traditional evidence collection methods have obvious limitations and should actively use technological means. On the one hand, actively promoting the application of blockchain certification and digital watermarking technology. Encourage producers to use blockchain technology for real-time verification of key achievements throughout the entire process of script creation, storyboard design, shooting material management, and final output. The system will save original electronic evidence such as creative manuscripts, modification records, and communication information, forming legally effective and tamper proof time records, effectively solving the problem of electronic evidence being easily lost and difficult to identify. On the other hand, we will vigorously promote the application of artificial intelligence monitoring systems on online platforms. Through real-time comparison with the "Micro Short Drama Works Database" jointly built and shared with the industry, potential infringement behaviors in massive dissemination content can be quickly identified, accurately located, and efficiently processed, improving the efficiency of discovering and disposing of infringing content. Enhance the level of industry autonomy and cross-border collaboration. Copyright protection is not a one-day effort, it requires stimulating the internal driving force of the industry and strengthening international collaboration to form a sustainable co governance pattern. One is to promote the establishment and compliance of self regulatory norms or conventions for copyright protection of micro dramas on major communication platforms, unify the standards and procedures for handling infringement complaints, explore the implementation of a "one stop, all network linkage" mechanism, and cut off the chain of infringing content dissemination. Encourage platforms to use technological means to strengthen pre emptive prevention, implement joint credit penalties on account entities that repeatedly infringe, and enhance the overall awareness and level of copyright protection in the industry. The second is to strengthen the construction of copyright trading centers, providing one-stop services covering copyright registration, value assessment, authorization matching, and infringement monitoring, effectively solving problems such as unclear ownership of rights and information asymmetry. The third is to strengthen cross-border cooperation. In response to the increasingly prominent issue of overseas infringement, industry associations and relevant law enforcement departments should cooperate with international copyright organizations to establish a cross-border transfer mechanism for infringement clues, focusing on monitoring the infringement situation of micro dramas in major overseas markets, and supporting Chinese enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through various channels. (New Society)