Beijing Internet Court Releases Typical Cases of Internet related Copyright Disputes for Performing Arts
2024-05-11
In order to strengthen the protection of online copyright in performing arts and guide the healthy and standardized development of the performing arts industry, the Beijing Internet Court recently held a press conference on the trial of online copyright disputes in performing arts. It reported the trial, characteristics, adjudication rules and typical cases of online copyright disputes in performing arts since its establishment, and put forward suggestions on how to properly resolve such disputes. From its establishment on September 9, 2018 to March 31, 2024, the Beijing Internet Court has accepted 764 cases of online copyright disputes related to performing arts. The number of cases is increasing year by year, involving song programs, dance programs, drama programs, operas, local operas and other drama programs, crosstalk, comic book, storytelling and other folk art programs, acrobatics, magic, circus and other acrobatic art programs, as well as comprehensive variety shows. The scope of the subjects involved in the lawsuit is broad, mainly consisting of cultural and entertainment enterprises. From the perspective of the prosecution subject, it includes both the successor rights subject and the original rights holder. From the perspective of the respondent, it mainly includes the producers of performing arts programs, Internet platform operators and individual performers. The infringement behaviors involved in litigation are diverse, with both offline and online behaviors overlapping. Rights holders often assert their rights against both offline and online infringement behaviors, leading to the complexity of infringement determination in cases. For example, if the defendant performs someone else's song in a public place on the street without authorization, while recording the entire process and broadcasting it live through a short video platform, and then uploads the recorded short video to the short video platform for dissemination, the plaintiff claims rights such as performance rights, broadcasting rights, and information network dissemination rights against the aforementioned behavior. "The reason why the online copyright dispute cases of performing arts show the above characteristics is closely related to the development of the media industry, the creation and dissemination characteristics of performing arts works and other factors." In this regard, Zhao Changxin, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice President of the Academy, analyzed that in recent years, the traditional performing arts industry has also been actively engaged in digital transformation, presenting a new trend of simultaneous online and offline development, communication on and off the stage, and integration of data and reality. In combination with the characteristics of real-time Internet communication speed, massive communication content, and global communication scope, compared with traditional performing arts types, the dissemination and use of performing arts programs on the Internet are more likely to cause disputes. At the same time, the complex creative process of performing arts works and the involvement of numerous subjects lead to complex and diverse infringement behaviors. The creative subject's awareness of rights is not strong, and they do not pay attention to obtaining permission when using existing works, which is also the reason for infringement lawsuits. Promoting the protection of online copyright related to performing arts is an important part of achieving the construction of the "City of Performing Arts". "We suggest that copyright owners enhance their awareness and ability to protect their rights, actively safeguard their own rights and interests, ensure economic benefits and creative motivation; regulate the behavior of industry entities, form an orderly development environment; enhance the awareness of copyright protection among various entities in the performing arts industry, regulate performance behavior, and minimize the occurrence of infringement from the root." Zhao Changxin said that the whole society should strengthen the promotion of intellectual property law, guide the public to improve their awareness of copyright protection through various means such as education and training, media promotion, and public welfare performing arts activities. This press conference also released nine typical cases, clarifying that the "reality show" program did not indicate that the actor's real identity infringed upon the rights of the performer, and the variety show used their songs and performances without the performer's permission
Edit：Liling Responsible editor：Wang Chen
Source：http://rmfyb.chinacourt.org
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