Our reporter Xu Xiao

　　Recently, Tencent applied to the court to change the litigation request to increase the claim amount of "Douluo Continental" from 61.6 million yuan to 800 million yuan.

So far, Tencent has sued Douyin for more than 2.943 billion yuan in six months.

　　On December 15th, the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association issued the "Detailed Rules for Online Short Video Content Review Standards", which stipulates that without authorization, short video programs are not allowed to cut or adapt movies, TV series, online TV series and other audiovisual programs without authorization. And fragments.

　　This move means that "watching movies in xx minutes" and video clips on Douyin and Station B will be banned, and the short video industry, which has a large number of users and has become a powerful reality, has also begun to enter the cold winter.

The essence is a dispute over copyright

　　The long and short video dispute is nothing more than a copyright dispute.

　　Short videos of film and television editing are easy to learn and quickly gain popularity, which makes them more realizable. However, no matter how big the business prospects are, copyright cannot be avoided.

　　As early as April of this year, there were already regulatory intentions for the short video industry, but there were still many practitioners pouring into the industry.

According to data from Tianyan Check, in recent years, the number of short video companies has grown rapidly. In 2020, the annual growth rate of the number of companies will be as high as 92%, and the number of companies registered this year will exceed 900.

　　Relevant data shows that in the third quarter that has just passed, the film and television commentary account has a clear advantage of occupying 6 seats, ranking among the TOP30 of the Douyin fans list.

This kind of entertainment that saves time and can achieve the purpose of entertainment has created a Douyin account with millions of fans or even tens of millions of fans.

　　The "2020 China Online Short Video Copyright Monitoring Report" shows that from January 2019 to October 2020, the center monitored more than 100,000 original short video authors, the National Copyright Administration's early warning list, and short video clips of key film and television variety works. , A total of 30,095,200 suspected infringing short videos were monitored, and the number of clicks involved reached 2.72 trillion times.

Dissemination rules of film and television series are blurred

　　Every time a work is put on the Long Video platform, the producer has paid a heavy amount of copyright fees. In the past few years, iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video have spent more than 100 billion yuan on video rights.

Despite this, it is still difficult for long video platforms to achieve profitability. Platform revenues are often maintained by increasing membership fees, but every time the membership fee increases, netizens will protest and denounce it.

　　Short video clips are usually arbitrarily edited, transported, and disseminated film and television works without the authorization of the right holder for free viewing by users, and are suspected of infringement and piracy.

On June 3, at the China Internet Audiovisual Conference held in Chengdu, executives of the long video platform spoke in unison, criticizing short video piracy and infringement.

　　At present, Douyin and Kuaishou both stipulate that the corresponding copyrights of live TV dramas and programs must be obtained first. Playing without copyright is an illegal operation.

The Douyin Governance Announcement indicated that it removed 140,000 infringing videos from the shelves in May 2021, and “handled promptly and proactively multiple content copyright complaints including the animated version of Douluo Dalu”.

Douyin also announced in June 2021 that the platform purchased a large number of copyrighted materials for creators to use, and continued to crack down on infringement and piracy.

　　But for film and television editing and dissemination behavior, the rules of the two platforms are much more blurred.

For example, Douyin only mentioned in the review rules that works that contain low-cost editing, screen recording, and picture carousel of film and television variety show content are unqualified, but what is meant by "low-cost editing" is not clear on the platform.

Pain points and difficulties need to be solved urgently

　　There are divergent opinions on how to regulate the copyright of short videos in a reasonable, legal and efficient manner.

　　Zhang Ping, executive vice president of the School of Intellectual Property, Peking University, analyzed that from the perspective of copyright law, video platforms and film companies themselves have invested a lot of money to create audiovisual works, and there should be a certain return, while some short video platforms Without authorization, the account production operator of the film and television works has been arbitrarily edited, cut, transported, disseminated, etc., which harms the interests of copyright owners.

But at the same time, he believes that when protecting the copyright of film and television, it is necessary to leave room for secondary creation.

　　Qiu Baochang, president of the Beijing Law Society’s E-Commerce Rule of Law Research Association, also emphasized that when a right holder claims a right to the platform, the platform should promptly disconnect and block related links. If the platform still fails to act after receiving the notice, the platform should bear the responsibility for the enlarged infringement. Joint liability, malicious collusion shall bear joint tort liability.

　　However, many film and television editor bloggers believe that there are so many personal bloggers, film companies, and film and television works, and the authorization mechanism and price are not transparent, making it difficult to obtain authorization completely.

Judging from the current copyright market situation, some short video creators or platforms still have certain problems in paying license fees to copyright owners of film and television works.

　　At present, the licensing fees for the network dissemination rights of film and television drama information are very high, and it is still doubtful whether film and television companies are willing to provide a reasonable and low-cost licensing fee for the scene of short video creation.

　　In view of these short video copyright protection and the pain points and difficulties in the development of the industry, relevant departments, experts and industry professionals need to discuss and work together to find an effective path to solve short video infringement and promote the healthy development of the industry.