Offering punitive damages, the new "Copyright Law" puts a tight tie on "manuscript washing"

　　Viewpoint

　　Heavy penalties should be imposed on chaos such as "handling" and "washing" on the network platform.

　　On November 11, 2020, the newly revised "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China" was officially released and will be implemented on June 1, 2021.

　　Judging from the specific content of this revision, the focus is mostly on the practical problems that need to be solved urgently in judicial practice, which is highly targeted.

　　For example, the revision unifies the types of works from film works and "quasi-electric works" to "audiovisual works", which not only conforms to the current situation of the presentation of works in the "video age", but also maintains the expression of "audiovisual materials" in the Civil Procedure Law. Convergence is more acceptable to the public.

The H5, Flash and other works created by the new media editor no longer have to worry about being excluded from the scope of protection because they are not "created according to traditional film production methods".

　　There are still many bright spots in the new "Copyright Law", which stem from widely accepted interpretations or conventions in judicial practice.

For example, many institutional media and excellent self-media people have suffered from being infringed by some unscrupulous media in the form of "transportation" and "washing".

　　The most essential feature of the works protected by the "Copyright Law" is that it is "original."

Pure facts, such as basic explanations of time, place, people, events, and results, are not original.

But "news on current affairs" is not equal to "factual news", let alone "unprotected."

　　A large number of news reports have unique narratives and analytical comments in addition to the basic facts. Many outstanding reporters also have their own unique language styles and narrative methods. The reporter’s interviews also need to be recorded and sorted out and placed in the news. In the description of facts, news works that embodies individual originality should of course fall into the category of “works” protected by the Copyright Law.

　　It is hoped that the law enforcement agencies can take this opportunity to increase the punishment for large-scale infringements of the copyright of news works by means of "handling" and "washing" on the Internet.

　　It is worth mentioning that this revision of the Copyright Law also abandons the principle of fill-up, adds a minimum compensation of 500 yuan, and increases the maximum compensation from 500,000 yuan to 5 million yuan.

In determining the amount of compensation for infringement damages, the new "Copyright Law" clearly defines the license fee as the standard for determining the amount of compensation, and clarifies the standard for doubling punitive damages of one to five times.

This makes the "punishment" function of punitive damages truly prominent.

　　After the "Trademark Law", "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" and other laws have introduced punitive damages, and all have increased the maximum compensation limit to 5 million yuan, the revision of the "Copyright Law" on punitive damages can be said to be natural .

　　The highlights of this revision of the Copyright Law mostly correspond to some pain points, blocking points, and difficulties in the field of intellectual property protection and judicial practice. "Transportation" and "washing of manuscripts" are only the tip of the iceberg among the many infringement chaos.

The reason why the gray industry can operate between black and white is mostly not because the legislation is not clear but the law enforcement is not strict.

　　The revision of the "Copyright Law" makes the basis for law enforcement become more scientific and operable. The new law will also remain relatively stable for a long period of time.

To further curb intellectual property infringements and create a legal atmosphere in which the whole society (including online and offline) dares not to infringe and is unwilling to infringe, it is also necessary to escort strict law enforcement and fair justice.

　　Wang Lin (Legal Scholar)