Zhou Shen's new song "Moon Chronicle" is now available: explicitly marked as strictly prohibited for AI training and voice imitation.

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On April 1, Chinese-language pop music’s well-known singer Zhou Shen released the theme song “The Record of the Moon” for the costume fantasy drama “Moon Scales: A Splendid Chronicle,” and in the song’s prelude as well as in the credits page, clearly stated a copyright notice: “Not permitted for use in AI (artificial intelligence) training.” This move became a typical domestic first case where a work’s release was immediately accompanied by drawing a clear copyright red line specifically targeting AI technology. It signals that musicians’ protection of voice rights and creative autonomy has entered a new stage of “digital defense.”

The notice lays out detailed provisions: without the written permission of the copyright holder, it is strictly forbidden to use or publish the work in any way (including covers, re-recordings, remixing, etc.); without authorization, the work is strictly prohibited from being used for AI training, imitation, learning, generation, or other activities. This directly responds to the increasingly rampant “AI cloning of vocal timbres” and the phenomenon of “algorithmic songwashing” in the industry. In public appearances, Zhou Shen had previously expressed a rational examination of AI technology on multiple occasions, emphasizing that although AI can achieve extremely precise results through algorithms, it cannot replicate the “vivid emotions” and artistic soul that human performers repeatedly refine through their singing.

In 2026, as AI music moves into commercial exploration, this “hardcore” statement not only erects a technical firewall around original voices, but also provides a standardized paradigm for resolving the authorization legality of AI training data. Industry experts believe that this approach of locking in infringing intent at the source of the work will greatly lower the evidentiary threshold for subsequent copyright enforcement. With leading artists setting the example first, the music industry is accelerating the formation of legal consensus on the boundaries of human-machine collaboration, reaffirming that amid the wave of rapid technological advancement, the irreplaceable human feelings at the heart of artistic creation remain the core moat.