Where are the boundaries of the secondary creation of short videos
Parody videos are popular and copyright disputes are frequent
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Intern Yang Huijia
The parody video content was accused of infringement and requested to be removed from the shelves-the film and television video UP owner Lao Xie has become accustomed to this. Once received a notice from the drama party claiming copyright and requesting the removal of the video, Lao Xie will silently delete the short video he has worked so hard to produce.
As the UP owner of station B (video barrage website Bilibili), Lao Xie has 2.061 million fans. He is keen to make funny comments on recent popular film and television dramas. However, the frequent copyright infringement notices that he received recently made him a little panicked. He didn’t know exactly what copyright infringement was and what constituted fair use.
Just as confused as him, there are many vomiting video bloggers. Since the media era, social media has provided the public with a broad display platform, and many netizens have joined the ranks of video creation. Platforms such as station B, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu have become important “positions” for them to publish videos, including many parody videos.
While parody videos are being created in large numbers, copyright issues have also attracted public attention. Where is the boundary of parody video infringement? How can the original party and the parody party strike a balance? With these questions in mind, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily conducted an in-depth interview.
Parody videos are very popular
Video bloggers don’t know the boundaries
Parody, also known as parody, means that the creator borrows from other works in his own work to achieve the purpose of ridicule, ridicule, game or tribute. It is a kind of secondary creation. The objects of parody are usually works familiar to the public.
The reporter observed that the current parody video content on the Internet not only includes classic plot remakes and lip-synching lines, but also many popular film and television dramas, song MVs, and advertising slogans have also become parody targets for short video users.
Chen Li, a media operation worker from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, is a “heavy” short video enthusiast. She will scan and shoot videos when she has nothing to do. Whenever a popular parody object appears, she will not miss it.
Chen Li said that her friends would also shoot similar videos to “chase the wind” with each other, but their purpose of shooting parody videos is mostly to record life, meet entertainment needs and social needs.
The parody videos produced by Lao Xie are mainly concentrated in the field of film and television dramas. The content of these videos is mainly composed of pictures of his spit story and original commentary audio, occasionally interspersed with some interesting emoticons and other song fragments, which are mainly humorous and funny.
According to Lao Xie, his original intention and inspiration for making short videos are mainly from his interests and life. He usually likes to be funny and spit out. He found that sometimes videos can show the content more vividly than words, so he liked the interesting commentary of movies and televisions. After studying, I have gained a lot of fans.
As the number of fans increased, controversy also followed, especially in terms of copyright infringement. Lao Xie told reporters that he had received a lot of notices from the dramatists claiming copyright, but he had not received a notice of “requesting the video to be removed on the grounds of defamation of the original work by the video.”
“Copyright usually depends on whether the producer claims it. Some producers with high quality works are relatively tolerant of copyright and are less likely to claim copyright ownership. Moreover, even if the second editing is a complaint, it will help the dissemination of the work to some extent.” Old heresy, such as the drama “Awakening Age”, has a high degree of dissemination on the Internet and a good reputation. Its high quality is the primary reason. The second editing by many people has also contributed to the amount of transmission.
Lao Xie revealed that he was most worried that certain platforms would encourage UP masters to create because of the need for traffic when the program was announced, and then backhandedly report UP masters infringement after the program is over.
In order to avoid infringement as much as possible, Lao Xie and other Tucao video bloggers discussed methods and methods, but everyone is confused about what is fair use and what is infringement, “I don’t know where the boundary is.”
Copyright disputes are not uncommon
To avoid infringement
In fact, copyright disputes involving parody videos have repeatedly appeared in the newspapers.
As early as 2006, Hu Ge, the original online video creator, was sued for using gun film clips and Shanghai Circus City performances as materials for making a short film “A Bloody Case Triggered by a Steamed Bun” that spoofed Chen Kaige’s film “Promise”.
“You love me, I love you, Michelle Ice City is sweet” This Michelle Ice City theme song is adapted from the American country folk song “Oh! “Susanna”, the brainwashing melody plus the cartoon “Snow King” image, gave the song a high degree of popularity, and it was once borrowed and parodyed by netizens. On June 30 this year, Michelle Ice City declared on its official Weibo on the re-creation of the Michelle Ice City’s brand LOGO and trademark logos that appeared on major online platforms. , We reserve the right to pursue relevant legal responsibilities for acts that vilify our brand image or infringe our intellectual property rights.”
The reporter noticed that, in order to avoid infringement, the CUT collection of many stars in station B (a kind of mixed editing of multiple film and television dramas of the same type or different works of the same artist in one video, and a video with background music) will Mark the source in the clip, such as the name of the work, the name of the actor, the name of the music, etc.
In Zhihu, there are also many related questions such as “Is parody video infringement? How can we not infringe”, and many people have made suggestions in the comment area. Some people think that it can be used by specifying the source; some people think that non-commercial use does not constitute infringement.
Defining the scope of fair use
Need to consider market relations
So how exactly should a parody video constitute an infringement?
According to Article 24 of the Copyright Law, in the case of “introducing, commenting on a certain work, or explaining a certain issue, appropriately quoting the published work of another person in the work”, etc., it is possible not to give permission from the copyright owner. Remuneration is paid, but the author’s name or title and the title of the work shall be specified, and the normal use of the work shall not be affected, and the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner must be reasonably damaged.
In January 2019, the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association issued the “Online Short Video Platform Management Regulations” and the “Online Short Video Content Review Standard Rules”, requiring that online short video platforms should perform copyright protection responsibilities, and must not cut, cut, or cut without authorization. Adapted films, TV dramas, network movies, network dramas and other radio and television audiovisual works.
“As far as the current law is concerned, the situation that parody video can correspond to should be the commentary use in fair use as stipulated in Article 24 of the Copyright Law. However, from the surface analysis of the law, whether the commentary use causes infringement or not It should be judged whether the use behavior has an adverse effect on the work being used. This effect refers to the impact on the market or economic interests.” said Yang Ming, a professor at Peking University Law School.
Yang Ming believes that when discussing whether a parody video belongs to the scope of fair use, one should consider the impact of the market on the copyright of the original work, and analyze the market relationship between the plaintiff’s work and the defendant’s work, such as whether it will produce a large number of market substitutions. “At present, there is no specific and clear standard for judging whether it is reasonable or not. It is still difficult to clearly demarcate the boundaries, and it needs to be measured by the judge in a specific case.”
According to Duan Yingzi, a lawyer from Beijing Taoan Law Firm, the fair use situation stipulated in Article 24 of the Copyright Law provides a basis for the legality of parody videos. This requires parody videos to be used for the purpose and use of others’ works All methods meet the requirements of fair use.
“For the purpose of use, the parody should use the work for the purpose of introducing, commenting on a certain work or explaining a certain problem, and avoid directly using it for the same purpose as the original work; To grasp the two directions of “quality”.” Duan Yingzi said, taking the Tucao video of film and television drama as an example, adding personal commentary to the video does not mean that the risk of infringement is avoided. Such videos usually combine the content of the blogger’s personal commentary with The collocation and use of references to film and television drama screens and fragments. In the “quantity” dimension, the citation of the content of the film and television drama should be appropriate. In the “quality” dimension, it is necessary to grasp the presentation and interpretation of the content of the film and television drama, without affecting it. The normal dissemination and use of the work has to reasonably damage the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner.
Duan Yingzi reminded that if the ridicule and ridicule of the parody video constitutes insults, slander, and infringes on the moral, prestige, talent, credit and other social evaluations of others, it may touch the provisions of Article 1024 of the Civil Code. Infringe on the reputation of others, which requires the authors of parody video to respect the reputation of others when performing parody.
“If the object of parody is another person’s trademark or other influential commercial mark, the parody must be careful not to use parody video to confuse others’ business marks in the commercial field, or improperly cling to others’ market goodwill.” Duan Yingzi said.
Yang Ming suggested that video creators should try their best to be original, and use text if they want to evaluate works; if they use other people’s audiovisual works, try to use works beyond the copyright protection period, such as traditional Chinese music; if short videos are to be used as commercial Means to make profits, you must reach a cooperation with the original party, and share the income according to the flow.
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