Article 17 of the Copyright Law stipulates that "The copyright in cinematographic and teleplay works in audio-visual works shall be enjoyed by the producer", According to Article 7 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes over Copyright, it is stated that "natural persons, legal persons, or organizations without legal personality who sign their names on works or products shall be deemed to be the owners of copyright and copyright-related rights and interests, unless there is evidence to the contrary." We can deduce that the question of "who is the copyright owner of film and television works" should be very simple, and there are clear provisions in the law, A natural person, legal person, or unincorporated organization that signs the name "producer" on a film and television work is the copyright owner of the film and television work, which is often referred to as the copyright owner.

 

However, the reality is that many film and television works have diverse and chaotic signatures, and the identification of copyright owners of film and television works has generated various problems and confusion in industry reality and judicial practice.

 

1、 Current situation of main signature methods for film and television works

 

1. Signature "Producer" and "Co Producer"

 

For example, CCTV's "National Treasure" is signed as "Joint Production" and "Manufacturer"

 

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2. Signature "Production Unit" and "Joint Production Unit"

 

For example, the TV series "Beautiful Women" was signed as "Co production"

 

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3. Signature "Production unit" and "Joint production unit"

 

For example, the film "War Wolf 1" was signed as "Co production" and "Production Company"

 

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4. Other signature methods

 

For example, the 2010 version of the TV series "A Dream of Red Mansions" was signed as "The copyright of this program belongs to... exclusively"

 

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Looking at the signature status of various film and television works mentioned above, we find that there are a wide variety of signatures for film and television works, including production units, joint production units, and general producers; There are also production units and joint production units; There are also production units, joint production units, honorary production, total production, and so on. However, we have also found that almost all film and television works do not have the signature "producer" specified in Article 17 of the Copyright Law. So, apart from clearly stating that the copyright of this program belongs to... exclusively, what kind of "signature" is the "producer" in copyright law? Who is the copyright owner of film and television works? There are also many doubts and disputes in the industry.

 

2、 The historical reasons for the emergence of multiple signature methods in film and television works

 

As for the issue of film and television works' signature, as early as the 1990s, the national administrative department issued a number of normative documents, providing detailed and detailed management regulations for the signature of titles and credits. However, with the transition from a planned economy to a market economy and the free and prosperous development of the film and television industry, the state has become increasingly relaxed about the "retreat of the people" in the management of film and television works. On October 27, 2003, the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (formerly) issued Article 4 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Subtitles for Domestic Film", which states: "(1) Any person or unit directly related to the production of films may be included in the subtitles for the end of the film, and the project and name shall be determined by the film production unit itself." Thus, the right of signature for the beginning and end of the film has been almost entirely handed over to the production unit.

 

Based on the above examples and consistent industry practices, we have found that film and television dramas related to copyright generally have the following signatures: production, production, production, and so on. This can also be found in the administrative regulations and rules that have been issued and implemented in history

 

Production unit

 

Article 16 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Film", which came into effect on July 1, 1996 (which has expired), stipulates that "film producers shall enjoy copyright in the films they produce in accordance with the law." Subsequently, Article 15 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Film", which came into effect on February 1, 2002, also stipulates that "film producers shall enjoy copyright in the films they produce in accordance with the law." At that time, "The term" film production unit "as used in the" Regulations on the Administration of Film "refers to a unit that has the qualifications to produce films and has obtained a" Film Production License. ".

 

Article 16 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Film", which came into effect on February 1, 2002, stipulates that "When a unit other than a film production unit is approved to produce a film, it shall obtain a one-time" Film Production License (Single Film) "from the radio, film and television administrative department of the State Council in advance, and the participating film production unit shall enjoy the rights and assume the obligations. The specific measures shall be formulated by the radio, film and television administrative department of the State Council."

 

It can be seen from the above provisions that the copyright of a film is enjoyed by the film production unit that has obtained the "Film Production License" and other units that have obtained the "Film Production License (Single Piece)". Of course, after the implementation of the "Film Industry Promotion Law" on March 1, 2017, two licenses, namely, a film production license and a film production license (single film), were cancelled, and the restrictions on the subject of film production were completely removed. Any unit can shoot films without obtaining any qualifications for film production in advance.

 

In addition, everyone needs to pay attention to the special signature of "producer". Producers are different from production units. Producers are a term in the film and television industry, not a legal concept. They are only positions in one aspect of the film and television industry, and in most cases are held by agents of production units or investors.

 

2. Joint production unit

 

On October 27th, 2003, the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (formerly) issued Article 4, Item 4, of the Regulations on the Administration of Subtitles for Domestic Films, which stipulates: "Units other than film producers whose investment amount reaches one-third of the total cost of the film (co production films account for one-third of the domestic investment amount) may be designated as joint production units." It can be seen that those with investment amount accounting for one-third of the total cost and who are designated as joint production units, He is also the copyright owner. Of course, after the implementation of the Film Industry Promotion Law, the requirement for the investment amount of joint production units has also been cancelled.

 

3. Production unit

 

Article 3 (2) of the Regulations on the Administration of Captions for Domestic Film stipulates: "Units that have obtained a" Film Production License "and a" Film Production License (Single Film) "may independently or jointly sign as the production unit, and their legal person may sign as the producer."

 

In combination with the provisions of Article 4 (4) above, we can speculate that due to the administrative licensing of film production in China at that time, the production unit before obtaining the production license can generally be named as the production unit, and after obtaining the production license, it can also be named as "production unit" and "joint production unit" according to this article, so the production unit and production unit are both copyright owners, The legal representative of the production unit may sign as the producer.

 

In fact, the emergence of the producer can be traced back to the "Notice on Revising the Subtitling Regulations for Feature Films" (which has expired) issued by the former Film Bureau of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television in 1993, which stipulates that "the special signature for raising funds from society to produce films: the producer - the legal representative of the studio approved by the state to produce feature films." Alternatively, it can be deduced that the producer is the studio approved by the state to produce feature films, The production unit is the production unit, which is also the copyright owner.

 

Although all of the above listed regulations are related to films, the signature of other film and television works is basically implemented with reference to the industry practices of films. Later, in order to attract capital and meet the commercial reputation requirements of investors, the film and television industry created various titles for investors, such as production units, joint production units, chief producers, production units, joint production units, joint production units, honorary production units, total production units, and so on.

 

3、 How to determine the copyright owner of film and television works with multiple signature methods

 

Generally speaking, the various units with signatures listed above may be the copyright owners of film and television works. However, this is not the case in reality. Some units that sign their names on film and television works may only be considered for goodwill, not the true copyright owners; Some film and television works have both the signature of the production unit and the signature of the production unit; Some film and television works have non-standard and incomplete signatures, making it difficult to identify the rights holder based on the signature. If there is a dispute, how to determine the true copyright owner of a film and television work? In judicial practice, the attribution of copyright is generally considered in the following order.

 

1. The contract stipulates that the effect of "who owns the copyright" shall have the highest priority

 

Administrative management and judicial practice are more consistent with the contractual agreements of the parties. Article 7 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes over Copyright stipulates that "manuscripts, originals, legal publications, copyright registration certificates, certificates issued by certification agencies, and contracts for obtaining rights provided by the parties concerned may be used as evidence. Generally speaking, joint investment in film and television production is a relatively significant cooperative matter.", The parties to the cooperation will sign a written cooperation agreement and clearly stipulate the ownership of the copyright of the film and television works in the cooperation agreement. In judicial practice, if there is a copyright dispute over a film or television work, the court generally takes the ownership of the copyright as agreed upon in the contract between the parties as the basis.

 

2. The ownership information clearly marked "Who owns the copyright" on the film and television works

 

If there is no agreement or unclear agreement between the parties involved in the joint investment in the production of film and television works on the copyright of the film and television works, in accordance with Article 10.4 of the Guidelines for the Trial of Copyright Infringement Cases issued by the Beijing Higher People's Court on April 20, 2018, the copyright owner may be determined based on the ownership information clearly indicated on the film and television works, unless there is evidence to the contrary. For example, it is clearly stated that "the copyright belongs to a certain unit" or "a certain unit enjoys the copyright of this work".

 

The authorship of a film and television work can be identified as the copyright owner

 

If the ownership information such as "copyright belongs to a certain unit" or "a certain unit enjoys the copyright of this work" is not clearly marked on the film and television work, in judicial practice, the production unit that signs the title or tail of the film can be identified as the copyright owner.

 

4. The production unit with the signature on the film and television work can be identified as the copyright owner

 

If there is no signature of the production unit in the film and television work, the production unit (or production unit) with the signature can be identified as the copyright owner.

 

In addition, licenses issued by administrative organs such as production licenses, shooting licenses, issuance licenses, and public screening licenses can also be used as a reference for determining ownership, but in the absence of other evidence, courts generally do not use them alone as a basis for determining ownership.

 

4、 Thoughts on the Signature of Film and Television Works

 

In view of the confusion and confusion surrounding the signature of film and television dramas, as well as the possibility of disputes, industry insiders have also proposed some meaningful suggestions, such as: 1. A scientific and unified definition of the concept of "producer" in the Copyright Law should be made, and film and television works should be guided to adopt the signature method of "producer" in the copyright law, so as to standardize the legal and correct signature of film and television works. 2. Foreign experience can be used for reference to clarify the ownership of copyright by marking "Copyright belongs to a certain unit" at the end of the film. In addition, the copyright registration certificate can be used as evidence to prove the ownership of copyright. It is recommended that the copyright owner of a film and television work apply for copyright registration with the China Copyright Protection Center directly under the National Copyright Administration after the completion of the film and television work, in order to determine the ownership of the copyright.

(This article is translated by software translator for reference only.)