英文摘要 |
In recent years, the abbreviation “IP” of intellectual property has become a popular terminology spread over the film and television industry in Mainland China. However, the meaning of “IP” in this case is different from the traditional meaning of “IP”, which essentially refers to various types of literature works that can be adapted into movies or TV dramas. Notably, web fictions are the most popular “IP” due to their high popularity among fans, strong cash generation power and other advantages. However, in the process of authorization of web fictions, various kinds of legal disputes can occur between copyright owners and authorized persons. In practice, the ambiguity ensued in the authorization processes is likely to produce the dispute of “the chicken first or the egg first”. Compared to property rights, moral rights are often neglected, which will lead to follow-up disputes. The most common case in practice is the “right of authorship” and “the right to protect the integrity of the work” of authors that are claimed to be infringed. In the authorization of contracts for web fiction filming, some of the more important property rights mainly include “adaptation right”, “filming right”, “reproduction right”, “distribution right” and “the right of communication through information network”. Among these property rights, “adaptation right” is the most important one in that any unauthorized adaptation of web fictions will lead to disputes over adaptation rights and may even infringe the author’s other copyrights. In addition, the accumulation wave of storing “IP” together with the specific film and television record system regulated in mainland China has become a common phenomenon, making the authorized web fictions be overused. The purpose of this paper is to discuss relevant cases and understand specific disputes. Furthermore, we discuss the above issues from both legal and contract aspects and examine existing legal or practical deficiencies with the expectation of searching for potential solutions. |