Hotspot · Analysis

Is it necessary for online games to have a storyline in order to constitute audiovisual works under the Copyright Law?

On June 1, 2021, Article 3 (6) of the "New" Copyright Law revised "film works and works created using methods similar to film production" to "audio-visual works", providing a clear legal basis for the determination of copyright infringement in online games.

In April 2023, the Beijing Internet Court concluded a dispute between the plaintiff Beijing Technology Company and the defendants Wang and Shenzhen Technology Co., Ltd. regarding the infringement of the right to online dissemination of work information in online games. The court found that the game in question had the plot and entertainment of interaction between game players. With the instructions of game players, animal character images showed jumping, running, punching, or waving tennis rackets, baseball bats in the game scene The shovel or lollipop props interact with other game players to form a dynamic picture. During this process, game players can not only gain a visual and auditory appreciation experience of visuals and music, but also gain interactive experiences and emotional resonance through role-playing, friend interaction, team competitions, and other aspects of experience. Therefore, the above game visuals are composed of a series of visuals with or without accompanying sound, and are dynamically perceived with the help of technological devices, enriching the spiritual emotions of game players, and are classified as audiovisual works under the Copyright Law. According to this judgment, it can be concluded that a new type of intellectual property carrier consisting of specific characters, storylines, perceptible visuals, sounds, and other elements in online games can be included in the protection scope of audiovisual works under the Copyright Law. However, the question of whether online games must have storylines in order to constitute audiovisual works is worth further exploration.

In a case of infringement dispute, the Shanghai Pudong New Area Court ruled that "certain scenery films or documentary works do not have a predetermined storyline, but it will not prevent them from being recognized as films or similar film works". In its case, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court found that a certain game does not have specific game characters or game storylines, and lacks the core elements of a work created in a similar way to filmmaking.

Based on the current situation of the online game industry, the product types of "online games" not only include role-playing, but also include sports, action, and many other types. Different types of games have significant differences in props, rules, visual effects, system design, and other aspects, but are interrelated and integrated. Therefore, it may not be in line with the current situation of the online game industry to classify all online games into a certain category for protection, and it may be more feasible to provide differentiated protection for different online games. For example, for those with storylines that conform to the general performance characteristics of movie scenes, they can be included in the protection of audiovisual works; For online games that cannot showcase the aforementioned characteristics, but some elements such as music and copywriting do meet the standards of "works", this part can be protected as "other intellectual achievements that meet the characteristics of the works" in accordance with Article 3 (9) of the Copyright Law.

Industry · New Deal

Notice on Public Solicitation of Revised Opinions on the Shanghai Public Service Advertising Promotion and Management Measures (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)

On August 2nd, the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau issued a notice on publicly soliciting opinions on the revision of the "Shanghai Public Service Advertising Promotion and Management Measures (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)", and the deadline for feedback is August 31st.

The "Measures" consist of four chapters and thirty-four articles, which are applicable to the planning, organization, creation, promotion, and management activities of public service advertising within the administrative region of Shanghai. It is clear that the sources of public service advertising manuscripts include public service advertising drafts, public service advertising works library manuscripts, and self-designed and produced manuscripts. Enterprises are encouraged to invest in the design, production, and publication of public service advertisements or named public service advertising competitions, forums, and other activities; Enterprises investing in the design and production of public service advertisements may include the enterprise name and trademark logo in their public service advertising works, but shall not contain relevant information about the goods or services, as well as the enterprise address, website, contact information, etc., and shall not reduce the public's understanding of the content of public service advertisements.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has released five industry standards for broadcasting, television, and online audiovisual services

On August 18th, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Notice of the State Administration of Radio and Television on the Issuance of Three Broadcasting and Television and Network Audiovisual Industry Standards, including the" Technical Requirements and Measurement Methods for Audio Loudness of Network Audiovisual Programs ", and the" Notice of the State Administration of Radio and Television on the Issuance of Two Broadcasting and Television and Network Audiovisual Industry Standards, including the "Quality Requirements and Measurement Methods for Cable Digital Television Audiovisual Video Technology".

The broadcast television and network audio-visual industry standards released in this batch include "Technical Requirements and Measurement Methods for Audio Loudness of Network Audiovisual Programs", "Monitoring Regulations for Satellite Digital Broadcasting Television", "Monitoring Regulations for Audio Loudness of Digital Television Programs", "Quality Requirements and Measurement Methods for Audio and Video Technology of Cable Digital Television", and "Quality Requirements and Measurement Methods for Audio and Video Technology of IPTV".

Announcement on Soliciting Opinions on the Law Enforcement Guidelines for the Recognizability of Internet Advertising (Draft for Public Consultation)

On August 28th, the State Administration for Market Regulation released a notice on soliciting opinions on the "Internet Advertising Legibility Law Enforcement Guidelines (Public Solicitation Draft)".

The "Guidelines" clearly state that internet advertising publishers who use text annotation methods should clearly indicate "advertising" and shall not use "sponsorship", "promotion", "recommendation", "AD" or other substitutes; If a product or service is promoted through knowledge introduction, experience sharing, consumption evaluation, and other forms of purchase, and internet advertising is published by attaching shopping links or other purchasing methods, the advertising publisher should prominently indicate "advertising". If a news report contains detailed information such as the address, phone number, email address, website address, QR code, product barcode, internet instant messaging tool of a commodity operator or service provider, it shall be deemed as advertising in disguised form in the form of a news report; Excluding public welfare activities such as public opinion supervision, emergency response related to product quality, and poverty alleviation and assistance.

Summary and Release of the Top 10 Typical Copyright Cases in Shanghai in 2022

On August 30th, in order to deeply implement the decisions and deployments of the central and municipal party committees on strengthening intellectual property protection, create an international intellectual property protection highland, strengthen copyright protection publicity, and enhance public awareness of copyright protection, the Shanghai Copyright Bureau recently released the top ten typical cases of Shanghai copyright in 2022.

The selected cases include 4 criminal cases, 3 administrative cases, and 3 civil cases, covering multiple fields such as online live streaming, sports events, books, audiovisual websites, games, computer software, music, etc, It mainly includes "the copyright infringement dispute case of" Langyabang Immersive Script Chamber Game "," the criminal case of copyright infringement of the private server of the game "New Douluo Continent", "the administrative penalty case of copyright infringement of online broadcast publishing and online disk sharing", "the case of copyright infringement and unfair competition of sports events in the Winter Olympics", "the administrative penalty case of copyright infringement of" Tiktok Short Video LOGO "" and other cases.