"Works must not be disseminated and used without permission. This is a basic principle stipulated by the Copyright Law. This principle of course also applies to film and television works." On April 25, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, the Central Propaganda Department The Director of the Copyright Administration, Yu Cike, responded to the situation that "the problem of infringement and piracy of short videos has been serious recently, and the majority of rights holders have expressed strong feedback".
This timely response made film and television practitioners feel excited.
On April 23, more than 70 domestic film and television media units, including China Television Art Exchange Association and China Television Drama Production Industry Association, and more than 500 film and television practitioners jointly issued an initiative to resist online short video infringement.
This is the second time that film and television practitioners have spoken after the joint statement on April 9.
Compared with the last time it focused on "appeals," this initiative puts forward a clear demand: clean up and control "unauthorized cutting, handling, quick-watching, and compilation of film and television content", etc., to enhance copyright awareness.
Which short videos are suspected of infringement?
If the video uploader infringes, does the platform need to be held liable?
On the 21st World Intellectual Property Day, this "copyright war" caused by short videos sparked heated discussions.
How to determine whether infringement
The phenomenon of editing, cutting, transporting, disseminating and even secondary creation of film and television works is almost symbiotic and co-prosperous with the rapid development of short videos.
On the short video platform Douyin, accounts of "editing" and "video commentary" abound.
Searching for the TV series "Zhen Huan Biography", the first account shown edited 76 episodes of TV series into 223 short videos and released the total content of 300 million.
On the popular video platform "bilibili", which is popular among young users, when searching for the popular drama "The Awakening Age", the first content that jumped out was not the TV series itself, but a series of film and television commentary videos re-edited from the drama's footage.
Users are happy to be free and labor-saving. Video uploaders and the platform are mutually beneficial and win-win. Only a large number of film and television works become free "providers".
When practitioners in the film and television industry put forward a request for copyright protection, some people asked: Can a short video only intercept a very short content, can it be considered infringement?
"Cut off the film and television works for dissemination, more than a few minutes can be judged infringement? Under what circumstances is infringement? There can be no accurate judgment standard like a mathematical formula, such as less than 1 minute, no infringement, more than 1 minute Inevitable infringement." Professor Wang Qian of East China University of Political Science and Law, PhD supervisor, and vice chairman of the China Copyright Association pointed out the complexity of this issue.
Wang Qian stated that the Copyright Law stipulates that in order to introduce, comment, and explain a certain issue, works can be appropriately cited, but the determination of "appropriate citation" requires specific analysis.
"For example, for the news about the fire in Notre Dame de Paris, some TV stations quoted clips from the movie "Notre Dame de Paris" to show the historical situation, which does not constitute infringement. However, for some film programs, the host introduces 30 seconds and then broadcasts the essence of the movie for half an hour , Will be judged as infringement."
Zhao Zhanzhu, a researcher at the Intellectual Property Center of China University of Political Science and Law, explained that when judging whether the use of other people's works is "fair use", the principle of "three-step test" should be followed: the first step can only be made under special circumstances; The second step does not conflict with the normal use of the original work; the third step does not unreasonably damage the legitimate rights and interests of the owner of the original work.
"Judging from this, the editing and use of film and television works in the short video platform generally does not constitute fair use." Zhao Zhanzhu said.
"The basic plot and essence are included, so it is not'introduction' but'substitution'. Whether it plays a substitute role is one of the factors in considering whether it constitutes an infringement of the copyright of others. Even if it is'appropriately quoted', the proportion should be strictly controlled "Zhao Hu, a partner and lawyer of Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, believes that the several demands put forward in the latest initiative are reasonable.
Video uploader infringement, is the platform exempt from liability
It is worth noting that the "statements" and "initiatives" issued twice in a row, in addition to the production and operators of public accounts, also called for and advocated the responsibilities and obligations of short video platforms.
If the actions of the short video account producers and operators constitute direct infringements, is the platform also liable?
In fact, the "safe haven rules" in the copyright law, that is, the "notification-delete rules", have always been regarded as the exemption basis for short video platforms.
"The platform shall bear the infringement liability for the infringing videos posted by the account operator when it knows or should know it." Zhao Zhanzhi further explained that in judicial practice, if the platform has editorial changes, recommendations or advertisements, etc., So usually, it constitutes knowing or ought to know.
Wang Qian also believes that, under normal circumstances, the video platform will review the uploaded content. If there is obvious infringement, the platform should not let it upload, otherwise it may constitute indirect infringement (help infringement).
"The video field has high requirements for copyright protection, which also puts forward higher and stricter requirements for our platform management." Qin Yazhou, editor-in-chief of the content operation platform Zhihu, said that the protection of creators’ copyright is a red line and cannot be breakthrough.
Qin Yazhou believes that copyright protection includes two levels: it includes both the protection of the video created by the creator itself, and the specification of the source of the video cited or edited by the creator.
"We will strictly abide by the country's laws and regulations on copyright protection. Once we find any infringement problems, we will immediately take measures to do a good job in copyright protection."
The reporter learned from the National Copyright Administration that this year the National Copyright Administration will continue to increase its crackdown on infringements in the short video field in accordance with the deployment of the central government to comprehensively strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, and resolutely rectify short video platforms, self-media, and public account producers and operators. Unauthorized copying, performance, and dissemination of infringements of other people's films, music and other works; promote short video platforms, self-media, and public account operating companies to fully perform their main responsibilities.
Copyright protection requires the concerted efforts of all parties
A voice suggested that there are millions of content creators who produce tens of millions of videos every day, and it is difficult to "authorize before use" in practice.
In response to this specific situation, Zhao Hu suggested that the authorized subject could be the account operator or the short video platform.
“Short video platforms can buy the corresponding rights in the copyrights of some film and television works and provide them to platform users. They require that the edited content can only be broadcast on a specific platform. This way, although a certain cost is paid, it can attract more Multiple users and advertisers."
However, with the development of the video era, not only short videos, but also massive audiovisual content may involve related licensing issues. In this regard, Shi Wenxia, deputy secretary-general of the China Film Copyright Association, puts forward: "If we want to solve this large-scale use of copyright issues, we must Collective copyright management is none other than that.” The National Copyright Administration also proposed to encourage and support collective management organizations of film copyrights to strengthen their own construction and carry out collective management of film copyrights in accordance with the law.
Shi Wenxia explained that the rights holders of audiovisual works can entrust the rights of their own works to relevant collective management organizations for the copyright of audiovisual works for management for users to inquire and select.
Through the centralized management of the rights of a large number of works, the cost of license negotiation, supervision of the use of rights, and rights protection litigation can be reduced.
She emphasized that in order to achieve a standardized licensing status, it is also necessary to clarify the rights involved in different use cases, form a large-scale work library, and formulate specific measures such as charging standards.
"The resolution of these problems depends on the joint efforts of all parties, including rights holders, users, copyright collective management organizations, management departments, and the general public."
(Our reporter Li Jinrong)