1. What is copyright
Copyright used to be called copyright. The original meaning of copyright is copyright, which is the right to reproduce. This is because printing technology was not popular in the past. At that time, society believed that the most important right attached to a work was the right to print and publish it, so it was called this. However, with the evolution of the times and the advancement of technology, the types of works have gradually increased. The British "Anna Statute", the world's first copyright law, began to protect the rights of authors, not just publishers. In 1791, France promulgated the "Performance Rights Law" and began to attach importance to protecting the author's performance rights. In 1793, the "Author's Rights Act" was promulgated, and the author's moral rights received further attention.
2. Contents of copyright rights
(1) Personal rights
1. Personal rights in copyright law are different from personal rights in the concept of civil law. This right is inseparable from the author's person. From the perspective of the origin of personal rights, at the end of the 18th century, under the influence of the bourgeois idea of natural human rights, the famous German philosopher Kant and others proposed the view that works are an extension of personality rights and personal rights. This view was adopted by mainland China Adopted by the national legislation of the legal system, it advocates the protection of the author's personal rights. Looking at the legislation of various countries, the personal rights of copyright generally include: the right of publication, the right of signature, the right of modification, the right to protect the integrity of the work, the right to withdraw the published work, etc. Regarding the protection of personal rights, national legislation in civil law systems and common law systems adopt completely different stances. Countries with civil law systems all advocate the recognition and protection of the author's personal rights. For example, the German Copyright Law has provisions to protect the author's personal rights from the beginning, and stipulates that personal rights cannot be transferred. Countries with common law systems did not recognize the author's personal rights at first, and later included this content in copyright law.
(1) Whether a legal person can enjoy personal rights. China's Copyright Law stipulates that legal persons or unincorporated entities can become the subject of copyright, which naturally recognizes that legal persons or unincorporated entities can enjoy personal rights. But this issue varies widely in copyright laws around the world. mostCountries that protect the personal rights of authors stipulate in the copyright law that only natural persons can become authors, that is, only natural persons can enjoy personal rights. Because personal rights are a reflection of the author's personality, and the recognition of a legal person's will is a matter of recent years. (2) Whether personal rights can be transferred and inherited. Generally speaking, personal rights are personality rights. From here, the transfer and inheritance of personal rights can be denied. Copyright laws in most countries stipulate that personal rights are inalienable, non-compulsory, non-transferable, etc. However, in theory and practice, the transfer and inheritance of some personal rights seem to have undeniable reasons and facts. Personal rights are inseparable from the author's person, but certain rights in personal rights are also inseparable from property rights. (3) The difference between personal rights in copyright and personal rights in civil law. Personal rights in civil law mainly refer to the rights to life, health, freedom, personality rights, portrait rights, etc. It can be seen that the personal rights in civil law are inherent rights of the person. The difference between them and the personal rights in copyright is: first, from the perspective of the basis of rights, the birth of personal rights in civil law is based on the birth of a person. When you are born, you have life, and you also have personal rights. The personal rights in copyright are based on the creation of the work, that is, based on the birth of the work. Second, personal rights in civil law are inherent in human beings and are owned by everyone. The personal rights referred to in copyright are limited to the author, that is, the person who created the work is eligible to enjoy them. Third, personal rights in civil law are limited to natural persons, while personal rights in copyright law can be natural persons or legal persons according to the copyright law. Fourth, most personal rights in civil law disappear with the death of a person's life (some personal rights are inviolable even after the death of the person who owns them, such as portrait rights). Personal rights in copyright law can exist independently even if the subject dies, such as the right of signature. Fifth, personal rights under civil law cannot be inherited and transferred, but some rights in personal rights under copyright law can be transferred and inherited. Sixth, infringement of personal rights in civil law is mostly a direct infringement of the subject itself, while infringement of personal rights in copyright is manifested in the illegal use of works.
2. Right of publication. The right of publication is the right to decide whether a work should be made public. This contains two meanings: one is the decision to publish, and the other is the decision not to publish. The right of publication specifically includes the following contents: when to publish; in what form, such as book form, serial form, broadcast form, etc.; and where to publish. The published work should be the original or copy of the work that has not yet been made public. If the work has been published or exhibited, there will no longer be any issue of publication. Publicizing to the public mainly refers to preaching or exhibiting to an unspecified majority of people in a public place and making it known to the majority of people. If the work is simply circulated among the author's friends, it is not considered published.
3. Right of signature. The right of authorship means the right to indicate the identity of the author and to sign the work. The author's identity can be confirmed by his signature. Copyright regulationsstipulates that, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the citizen, legal person, or other organization that signs the work is the author. The right of signature is the core of copyright. With the right of signature, the owner of the copyright can be confirmed.
4. The right to modify and the right to protect the integrity of the work. The right to modify and the right to protect the integrity of the work are essentially two aspects of the same thing. On the one hand, the author has the right to modify the work; on the other hand, the author has the right to prohibit others from tampering with or distorting the work. The right of modification refers to the right to modify or authorize others to modify a work.
(2) Property rights
The property rights in copyright refer to the economic benefits that can be brought to the copyright owner rights to interests. The realization of this economic benefit depends on the copyright owner's use of the work. It can be seen from this that the property rights in copyright are different from the property rights in civil law, mainly in: (1) The forms of expression of rights are different. (2) Property rights in civil law are permanently protected and can be passed down from generation to generation even after the death of the owner. (3) The law does not impose too many restrictions on the exercise of property rights, but there are many restrictions on the exercise of copyright property rights, such as no payment of remuneration for reasonable use. According to the provisions of the Copyright Law, the property right of a copyright refers to the right of the copyright owner to use the work through copying, distribution, leasing, exhibition, performance, screening, broadcasting, information network dissemination, filming or adaptation, translation, compilation, etc. and to obtain remuneration for it. , as well as the right to license others to use the work in the above-mentioned manner and receive compensation for it.
1. Right of reproduction: It is the right of the copyright owner to decide whether to implement or not to implement the above-mentioned copying behavior or to prohibit others from copying its protected works. It is the most important property right in copyright. , the most basic and universal rights. Copying refers to the act of making one or more copies of a work by printing, copying, rubbing, recording, videotaping, ripping, or photographing.
2. Distribution right: refers to the right to provide originals or copies of works to the public by selling or donating them. Distribution is an important channel for disseminating works and realizing the economic rights of copyright owners. Only through distribution can public acceptance be achieved.
3. Rental right: refers to the right to license others to temporarily use film works, works created by similar filmmaking methods, and computer software for a fee. The right to rent is a right listed separately after the revision of the Copyright Law. Originally, the "Implementation Regulations of the Copyright Law" stipulated it as one of the methods of distribution.
4. Exhibition right: refers to the right to publicly display originals or copies of art works and photographic works. Works that can be exhibitedGenerally limited to fine art works and photographic works, because these two types of works are visual works, and the content of the works is not easy for people to understand through other communication methods. Exhibition is the best channel.
5. Performance right: that is, the right to publicly perform works and to use various means to publicly broadcast the performance of works. Performances can be divided into live performances and mechanical performances. The former refers to the direct demonstration of works through the body's body and movements; the latter refers to the repeated reproduction of performances of certain works with the help of mechanical equipment, such as playing audio-visual works through recording, video and other equipment.
6. Screening rights: refers to the right to publicly reproduce art, photography, movies and works created with methods similar to filmmaking through projectors, slide projectors and other technical equipment. This is a new right after the revision of the Copyright Law.
7. Broadcasting rights: refers to the public broadcast or dissemination of works by wireless means, the dissemination of broadcast works to the public by wired dissemination or rebroadcasting, and the use of loudspeakers or other similar means of transmitting symbols, sounds, images, to communicate broadcast works to the public. Technically, the exercise of broadcasting rights must be carried out through radio and television stations, and broadcasting behavior is regulated by national administrative regulations and departmental rules. Therefore, there is often the fact that broadcasting is authorized.
8. Information network dissemination right: refers to the right to provide works to the public in wired or wireless ways, so that the public can obtain the works at a time and place of their own choosing. . This is a newly added right when the Copyright Law was revised in response to the development of information networks. Prior to this, when it came to uploading other people's works to the Internet, courts mostly protected copyright owners by identifying them as illegal copying (that is, expanding their interpretation of the right to copy).
9. Filming right: refers to the right to fix the work on a carrier by making a movie or by a method similar to making a movie. The filming rights can be exercised by oneself or authorized to be exercised by others.
10. Adaptation right: refers to the right to change the original work and create an original new work. The right to adapt can be exercised by oneself or allowed to be exercised by others. The reason why the work needs to be adapted is to adapt to the requirements of different communication methods.
11. Translation right: refers to the right to convert a work from one language into another language.
12. Right of compilation: refers to the right to assemble works or fragments of works into new works through selection or arrangement. The exercise of the right of compilation, if there is a right in the selection and arrangement of the materialOriginality results in a compilation work.
3. Provisions on Proof of Copyright Ownership
The author of the copyright In rights litigation, you must first prove that you have rights. Regarding proof of ownership, Article 7 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Copyright Dispute Cases" stipulates that the copyright-related manuscripts, originals, legal publications, copyright registration certificates, certificates issued by certification agencies, Contracts for obtaining rights, etc., can be used as evidence. The natural person, legal person or other organization who signs the work or product is deemed to be the owner of the copyright and copyright-related rights and interests, unless there is proof to the contrary. This reduces the burden of proof on the author and puts the opposite burden on the defendant.
However, in litigation practice, many authors do not prove their rights well. For example: Producers of audio and video recordings often treat this advantageous provision carelessly, and their signatures on audio and video recordings are extremely irregular. Many rights are condensed in the legal publication of audio and video products: the signature on the lyrics sheet can prove the ownership of the songwriter and performer; the signature on the audio and video products can prove the ownership of the producer; the copyright and neighboring rights logos on the cover The above ownership can also be proved. However, many record companies ignore this right and do not have standardized signatures on audio and video products. Common ones are: listing one's own trade name or even the abbreviation of the trade name after the copyright and neighboring rights marks; using one's own English name or the abbreviation of the English name as the signature; using one's own trademark (even an unregistered trademark) as the recorder's. Signature; using the stage name, English name, band name, or part of the name as the signature of the songwriter and performer; or the signature on the lyrics sheet, cover, or packaging is inconsistent. These will all affect the proof of ownership in litigation.
Therefore, copyright owners, performers, and producers of audio and video recordings should pay attention to leaving evidence of their rights and sign their names on the works in a correct and standardized manner. For some works that are difficult to prove, copyright registration should be carried out in a timely manner, including computer software copyright registration, so that if a dispute occurs, there will be sufficient evidence to prove one's rights and it is easier to safeguard them.
Many rights holders do not take copyright registration seriously. Although copyright ownership is automatically generated from the date of completion of the work and does not require registration procedures, in the Internet age, the speed of information copying and dissemination is very fast, and it is difficult for copyright owners to control the copying and dissemination media. Once a work is widely circulated through multiple channels, it will be difficult to prove the identity of the original author. The copyright registration certificate is a powerful proof of copyright ownership. Therefore, taking the initiative to apply for copyright registration is to prove that your workA good way to identify the rights holder.
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