In the early morning of March 12, Yan Yalun sent a long article in response to the death accident of the crew members of his new drama "Chu Yong" who fell into a valley, shelling the producer "Doumani" and asking for a reasonable explanation and a correct attitude. Netizens who follow the film and television industry will find that many film and television dramas often encounter various legal issues during the process of preparation, shooting, and distribution, such as Jin Dong's crew's disclosure of a default in the remuneration of the cast members, the plot of "Haoyi Xing" being recruited by enthusiastic fans Reuters, bad institutions posing as "Super Prince" crew members to recruit actors, and the crew of "Red Cliff" suffered casualties, among others, to name a few. Typically, the crew will make one or more statements to set the stage straight. So, what kind of unit is the crew? What is the relationship between the production team and the investment producer of the film and television series? If there is a dispute or accident, who bears the responsibility?

 

1、 What is the crew

 

Shooting a film and television drama requires a large amount of funds, a large number of professionals, as well as various shooting equipment and props materials. So who will integrate these resources and ultimately shoot a movie and television series? Is it the producer? Is it a director? Actually, it's not. Strictly speaking, it should be a production team. The definition of the production team Baidu Baike is a group organized by various professionals for the purpose of shooting a film or TV series, also known as a drama team.

 

In terms of industry, a theater crew is a collection of people (the basic members include directors, associate directors, biographies, actors, photography, fine arts, music, recording, editing, makeup, clothing, props, scenery, lighting, stunts, etc.), as well as a collection of properties (the main properties include shooting funds, equipment, clothing, props, scenery, etc.), A large number of complex civil and economic relationships occur all the time (hiring cast members, renting filming venues, purchasing costumes and props, commissioned production of dubbing and music, etc.).

 

2、 Is the crew an independent civil subject

 

A civil subject is a party who participates in civil legal relationships and enjoys rights and assumes obligations. With independent civil subject qualifications, it can participate in various civil activities independently and independently within the scope prescribed by law, enjoy civil rights and assume civil obligations, and independently assume civil legal responsibilities.

 

According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, civil subjects include natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations. However, a drama crew is a temporary organization established by one or more investment producers of a film and television drama to complete the filming work. It is not a legal person established in accordance with the law, nor is it an unincorporated organization registered in accordance with the provisions of the law. In judicial practice, it is generally recognized that it is not an independent civil subject.

 

3、 Does the crew have civil litigation legal qualifications

 

The legal status of civil litigation refers to whether there is a qualification to sue as a plaintiff, respond as a defendant, or participate in litigation as a third party when disputes arise in civil activities. According to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of China and relevant judicial interpretations, citizens, legal persons, and other organizations can be parties to civil litigation. Other organizations refer to organizations that are legally established, have certain organizational structures and properties, but do not have legal personality, including: (1) sole proprietorship enterprises that have registered and obtained business licenses according to law; （2） A partnership enterprise registered and licensed in accordance with the law; （3） Chinese foreign contractual joint ventures and foreign-funded enterprises that have registered and obtained business licenses in accordance with the law; （4） Branches and representative offices of legally established social organizations; （5） A branch of a legal person established in accordance with the law and obtaining a business license; （6） Branches of commercial banks, policy banks, and non bank financial institutions established and licensed in accordance with the law; （7） Township enterprises and street enterprises that have been registered and obtained business licenses according to law; （8） Other organizations that meet the conditions specified in this article.

 

From the above provisions, we can see that although the scope of the subject of civil litigation is broader than the scope of civil subjects, it still does not include such loose temporary organizations as drama crews, and in judicial practice, it is generally not granted the qualification of a subject of civil litigation.

 

4、 How to assume the legal responsibility of the crew

 

"The crew is neither an independent civil subject nor an unqualified civil litigant. Is the agreement signed by the crew in real life valid?"? How to bear the resulting civil liability? In judicial practice, there are generally the following situations:

 

(1) Sign the agreement with an authorized cast crew seal, and all investment producers who establish the crew shall bear the responsibility

 

This situation is relatively common, and many regular cast members have their own seals and fund current accounts. According to the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Public Security of China, engraving a legal seal requires holding relevant procedures to the public security department for approval and filing, and the same applies to the seal of the crew. For example, Beijing requires that film and TV drama crews engrave official seals and hold the original and photocopy of the business license of the shooting unit, a letter of introduction from the shooting unit, and relevant materials to prove the shooting materials.

 

If the crew signs an agreement with a seal engraved with the authorization of the filming unit, the agreement represents the true meaning of each party, and the content of the agreement does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations. In judicial practice, these agreements are generally recognized as valid agreements, and each party to the agreement should perform according to the agreement. In case of any dispute, all the investors and producers who set up the production team (i.e., the copyright owner of the film and television series, see the author's previous "Film and Television Signature Chaos, Whose House Will the Copyright Dispute Fall?") shall be the subject of civil litigation and bear corresponding legal liabilities.

 

(2)If an agreement is signed with an unauthorized engraved seal, it is necessary to determine whether it constitutes an agency by estoppel

 

If the crew seal used to sign the agreement is privately carved by someone without authorization or filing, and the counterparty to the contract is aware that the seal is privately carved, the agreement shall not have legal effect on the crew or the investment producer of the film and television series, and shall be personally liable.

 

In another case, if the seal of the crew signing the agreement is privately engraved, but the third party signing the agreement has full reason to believe that there is evidence that the person using the seal is engaged in activities on behalf of the crew, then the act of the person using the seal constitutes an apparent agent, According to Article 172 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "If the actor does not have the agency power, exceeds the agency power, or still performs the agency action after the agency power is terminated, and the counterpart has reason to believe that the actor has the agency power, the agency action is valid." The investment producer of the film and television drama still needs to bear civil liability for the agreement signed with the private seal.

 

(3)The agreement is signed in the name of a certain investment production method, and all investment producers shall bear the responsibility

 

If the crew signs an agreement in the name of the investment production method, in case of any dispute, the investment production party shall be the subject of litigation and bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

 

"If the production team signs an agreement in the name of a certain investment production method, but the production team is actually formed by several investment producers, in judicial practice, all the investment producers of the film and television series will generally be used as joint plaintiffs or joint defendants, and they will jointly bear legal liability.".

 

(4) Sign an agreement in the name of someone on the cast, and treat it as specific

 

This situation is relatively rare, but it has actually occurred. For example, if the agreement is signed by a person in charge of the production team and is not stamped with the seal of the production team or the investment producer, there are also two possible determinations in judicial practice.

 

Article 172 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates: "Any civil legal act performed by a person performing the work tasks of a legal person or organization without legal personality in the name of the legal person or organization without legal personality on matters within the scope of their functions and powers shall have effect on the legal person or organization without legal personality. The restrictions imposed by the legal person or organization without legal personality on the scope of functions and powers of the person performing the work tasks shall not be against bona fide counterparts."

 

According to the above provisions, if the court determines that the individual signing the agreement is not for the purpose of performing the crew's work tasks, and exceeds its scope of authority, the individual should bear legal responsibility.

 

On the contrary, if the court determines, based on the evidence provided by both parties, that a certain person in the drama group signed an agreement in the name of the drama group within the scope of their authority in order to perform the work tasks of the drama group, even if the agreement does not have the seal of the drama group or the investment producer, but only the signature of the individual, the court will also determine that the agreement has legal effect on the investment producer who established the drama group, and the investment producer shall bear legal responsibility.