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Yiheng Lu

Yiheng

PhD Student

Email: yiheng.lu@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

Thesis title

Moral Rights in relation to Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content (AIGC)

Supervisors

Summary of research

This research, conducted at the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute under the supervision of Professor Johanna Gibson and Professor Guido Westkamp, examines moral rights in relation to Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content (AIGC) within the broader questions of authorship, attribution and responsibility. While the economic rights, ownership and commercial exploitation of AI-generated outputs have received substantial attention, the moral dimension of AI-mediated creativity remains comparatively underexplored. The project therefore asks when moral-rights protection should arise in AI-assisted and AI-generated creation, whose interests such protection should serve, and how copyright law can respond without simply treating AI systems as equivalent to human authors.

Building on its original focus on AI authorship and originality, the research now places greater emphasis on human creative agency, control and accountability across the generative process. It examines how factors such as prompting, iterative interaction, predictability, selection and arrangement, transparency, and responsibility may help distinguish legally meaningful human contribution from machine-generated variation. In this way, authorship is approached not as a binary choice between “human” and “machine”, but as a structured inquiry into contribution, control and responsibility.

The project remains primarily doctrinal, analysing legislation, case law and academic scholarship, while drawing on an interdisciplinary perspective shaped by training in both intellectual property law and engineering. This combination enables closer engagement with the technical operation of generative AI and with the legal and philosophical questions raised by machine creativity. Related research on attribution rights, creative labour and cultural production further situates moral rights within the wider governance of AI-enabled creativity.

Biography

Yiheng Lu is a doctoral researcher at the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, where his PhD examines moral rights and authorship in AI-generated content under the supervision of Professors Johanna Gibson and Guido Westkamp.

Trained in both law and engineering, he holds an LLM in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Power Systems Engineering from UCL, and bachelor’s degrees in Law (Intellectual Property) and Electrical Engineering and Automation. His research focuses on AI and copyright, particularly authorship, attribution, moral rights, human creative agency, transparency, responsibility and rights allocation.

He has published in European Intellectual Property Review and Technology and Regulation, and has presented his research at major academic conferences across Europe, Asia and North America. He also contributes to academic editing, peer review and international research communities in intellectual property, law and technology.

Peer-reviewed publications

  • Yiheng Lu and Chigozirim Victoria Onyeagbako, ‘Your Role or My Face: Protecting Performers’ Rights and Welfare in AI-Generated Performances’ (2026) 48(2) European Intellectual Property Review 62–73.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘AI-Generated Content and Attribution Rights: Balancing Authorship, Accountability and Public Interest’ (2026) 48(1) European Intellectual Property Review 41–46.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Reforming Copyright Law for AI-Generated Content: Copyright Protection, Authorship and Ownership’ (2025) 2025 Technology and Regulation 81–95 <https://doi.org/10.71265/chkr8w30>.

Conference papers, invited presentations and public engagement

Intellectual Property, Copyright and International Policy

  • Yiheng Lu, ‘The Chinese Room in Copyright Law: Generative AI and the Boundaries of Intellectual Creation’ (2026), the International Conference on Emerging Issues in IP Law (IIP Conference 2026), School of Law, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg; Vellore Institute of Technology School of Law (Chennai); and School of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge, Salzburg, Austria.
  • Qifan Yang and Yiheng Lu, ‘Measuring “Necessary Arrangements”: Quantifying Prompt Control as a Copyright Authorship Threshold for Generative AI-Generated Content’ (2026), the 21st Annual Conference of the European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) Association, Politecnico di Torino and Bordeaux School of Economics, Turin, Piedmont, Italy.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Rethinking Intellectual Creation: Legal and Philosophical Challenges of AIGC in Europe’ (2026), Intellectual Property Researchers of Europe (IPRE) 2026, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Who Owns AI Creativity: A Predictability Test for Authors of AI-Generated Content’ (2026), the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference 2026, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Between Turing and Searle: Rethinking the Legal Boundaries of AI-Generated Content [Distinction Paper Award]’ (2025), European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) 2025 Conference, the University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘From Printing Press to Artificial Intelligence: Historical Triggers, Contemporary Challenges, and the Future of Copyright Reform’ (2025), the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference 2025 (2025), Law School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Bundle of Rights: Economic Rights and Moral Rights in EU Copyright Law’ (2024), the EUIPO Intellectual Property Intensive Programme 2024, European Union Intellectual Property Office, Alicante, Spain.
  • Chigozirim Victoria Onyeagbako and Yiheng Lu, ‘Examining Actors’ Welfare in AI-Generated Film Characters’ (2024), “Framing IP Rights in Legal, Economic, and Cultural Settings” Conference, Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Redefining Creativity in Copyright Law: A Critical Examination of AI-Generated Works through the Lens of the Turing Test and Chinese Room Argument’ (2024), the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference 2024, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom.

Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Law and Interdisciplinary Research

  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Human Agency and Constitutional Responsibility in Generative AI: Authorship, Originality and the Limits of Machine Creativity’ (2026), the UCD Annual Constitutional Works-in-Progress Workshop 2026, Centre for Constitutional Studies and Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Deconstructing Authorship in Generative AI: Legal Governance, Human Contribution, and Sustainable Innovation in AI-Generated Works’ (2026), International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Legal Governance and Sustainable Development (AILGS): Constitutional, Regulatory and Sectoral Perspectives, Centre for Law, Technology and Innovation, School of Law, Bennett University, Uttar Pradesh, India.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Managing Machine Creativity: Authorship and Ownership in Digital Humanities’ (2026), Tsinghua University - King’s College London Digital Humanities and AI Innovation Exchange Sysposium, King’s College London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Managing AI Creativity: Copyright Authorship and Creative Ownership [Innovative Presentation Award]’ (2026), the 8th International Creative Management Conference (ICMC), Birbeck, University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Machine Aesthetics and Legal Scarcity: AIGC, Copyright and Creative Labour’ (2026), Cardiff Law and Humanities Workshop, The Four Nations Law and the Humanities Forums, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘From Code to Collaboration: Copyright Authorship, Technological Power, and Accountability in the Era of Generative AI’ (2026), Centre for Access to Justice and Inclusion (CAJI) Annual Conference 2026: Law, Power and the Changing Global Order, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Rage Against the Creative Machine: AI-Generated Content, Labour Displacement, and the Limits of Copyright’ (2026), 2026 Annual Plymouth Critical Criminology Conference: Rage Against the “Machines”: Feeling and Challenging Systems of Normalisation and Oppression, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Human Centred Law, Machine Centred Art: Epistemic Limits of Regulating AI Creativity’ (2026), 2026 12th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (ICSSH 2026), Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Reimagining Authorship for a Sustainable Future: Generative AI and the Evolution of Copyright Law’ (2025), Lancaster University Law School Annual Law and Criminology Conference 2025: “Sustainable Future: Reimagining Law and Justice System”, Lancaster University, Lancaster, England, United Kingdom.
  • Chigozirim Victoria Onyeagbako and Yiheng Lu, ‘Your Role or My Face: Navigating the Copyright and Ethical Maze of Actor Likeness in AI-Generated Film Characters’ (2025), Warwick Law School Conference ‘Technology in an Age of Change: Perspectives on Finance, Business, and Beyond’, Warwick University, Coventry, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Thermal Management of Electronic Devices using Bio-based Phase Change Materials Embedded in a Heat Sink [Best Thesis Award]’ (2024), the 18th UK Heat Transfer Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom.

International Scholars Forums and University Exchanges

  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Creative Ownership in Transition: Law Innovation and Sustainable AI Collaboration’ (2026), the 7th Manchester China–UK Scholars Summit, Chinese Students and Scholars Association Manchester (CSSA-MAN) Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Authorship Without Transparency: Legal Tests for Determining Control and Contribution in AIGC’ (2026), the 6th Forum for Scholars from China and Abroad, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Authorship in Transformation: Legal Methodologies for Determining Control in AI-Generated Content’ (2026), the 2026 Forum for International Scholars, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘From Prompts to Power: Mapping Human Control in AI-Generated Creativity’ (2025), the 9th International Scholars Yangfan Forum, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Opening the Black Box: Legal Standards for Transparency in Generative AI Outputs’ (2025), the 14th International Scholars Donghu Forum (Winter), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Reconstructing Authorship: Human Contribution and Legal Frameworks in Generative AI’ (2025), the 17th Beihang University Vision Forum for International Scholars, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Attribution in the Age of AI: Toward a Fair and Transparent Authorship Framework’ (2025), the 17th NJUST High-Level Zijin Forum for Overseas Scholars, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Attributing Creativity in Gen-AI Systems: Rethinking Human Contribution and Legal Authorship Frameworks’ (2025), the First International Scholars Xingyuan Forum, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Authorship Without Transparency: Legal Tests for Determining Control and Contribution in AIGC’ (2025), the 16th Chuanyou Forum for International Scholars in Information Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Collaborative Creativity and Legal Transparency: Building a Fair Authorship Model for Generative AI [Excellence Award]’ (2025), the 6th UK-China Scholars Summit and 2025 Thematic Forum on Artificial Intelligence Applications, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association Manchester (CSSA-MAN), Education Section of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Manchester, Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
  • Yiheng Lu, ‘Blurred Boundaries of Authorship in AIGC: A Critical Inquiry into AI-Generated Creative Outputs’ (2024), the 16th Beihang University International Scholars Vision Forum, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China.

Queen Mary University of London - Teaching and Assessment

Undergraduate Teaching

  • Teaching Assistant (2025–2026) with Mr Rupert Seal, LAW4006 Land Law, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom
  • Teaching Assistant (2025–2026) with Dr Raul Madden, LAW5003/6056 Equity and Trusts, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom

Postgraduate Specialist Teaching

  • Teaching Assistant (2025) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, SOLM314 Fashion Enterprise: Ethics, Business and Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2025) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, SOLM316 Intellectual Property and Fashion: Innovation and Technology, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2025) with Prof. Guido Westkamp, SOLM303 EU Digital Copyright Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2025) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, SOLM087 the Business of Film, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2025) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, SOLM080 Intellectual Property and Fashion: Business and Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2024-2025) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, SOLM079 Intellectual Property and Fashion: Art and Culture, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Teaching Assistant (2024-2025) with Mr. Florian Koempel, SOLM075 International and Comparative Copyright Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.

Assessment, Examination and Programme Support

  • Junior Counsel (2025), Intellectual Property Moot at LLM Offer Holder Day, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom
    Program Assistant (2024) with Prof. Johanna Gibson, Fashion Law LLM Program, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Joint Examiner (2024-2025), SOLM087 the Business of Film, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Joint Examiner (2024), SOLM080 Intellectual Property and Fashion: Business and Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.

Editorial, Reviewing and Academic Governance

Editorial Roles

  • Assistant Editor (2026– ), Queen Mary Law Research Paper Series (SSRN), School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Peer Reviewer (2025- ), Queen Mary Law Journal, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Deputy Article Editor (2025- ), Queen Mary Law Journal, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Assistant Editor (2024– ), Queen Mary Law Journal, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.
  • Communications Manager (2024- ), Queen Mary Law Journal, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, England, United Kingdom.

Research

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