Entering the digital age, important changes have taken place in the expression of musical works. Digital music has become the mainstream form of communication in the music industry. However, compared to physical music products such as traditional records, digital music is easier to obtain, which has caused many copyright issues. Strengthening the protection of music copyright in the digital age has become a common task faced by multiple parties such as platforms and users.
More good music is heard
Driven by the development of mobile Internet technology and the popularization of smart phones, short video platforms have risen rapidly and become one of the main ways of people’s daily entertainment. According to the “Special Research Report on China’s Short Video Header Market Competition between 2020 and 2021” released by iiMedia Consulting, China’s short video market will reach 140.83 billion yuan in 2020. The number of short video users exceeds 700 million and is expected to increase to 809 million this year.
The popularity of short videos has broadened the communication channels of background music as one of its important components. Through short video promotion, many old songs became popular again, and some little-known niche music was known and loved by more listeners. In order to support the development of domestic original music, some head short video platforms have also planned and launched related products. In 2018, Douyin launched the “Douyin Seeing Music Project”. Driven by this plan, more than 22 million people earned 41.7 billion yuan in revenue on Douyin in 2019.
During the epidemic prevention period, offline performances were canceled or postponed on a large scale, and “appreciating music on the cloud” became one of users’ home entertainment methods. The “2020 Douyin Music Ecological Data Report” shows that last year, the number of live broadcasts by musicians on the Douyin platform exceeded 2.04 million, attracting more than 9.8 billion users; the platform held 124 official online concerts, attracting a total of over 42 million views . Short videos have built a bridge between music and users, allowing more good music to be heard by the audience, and allowing more music lovers to experience diverse music culture.
Part of the work may involve infringement
Short video platforms have brought a lot of online golden songs, but some of the music works sung have the problem of copyright infringement.
According to the compilation of knowledge issued by the China Music Copyright Association, the copyright of a musical work refers to the rights of the creator of the musical work and the civil subject who obtains the copyright through legal means such as inheritance and transfer. Publicly use other people’s music works through the Internet, including online music, online MV, online cover music, online K songs, online short videos, etc., except for the use of works that have passed the rights protection period and fair use, all need to be obtained Music copyright license.
According to expert statistics, the current short video platforms that are likely to involve copyright disputes include: unauthorized use of musical works as the main content of short videos, unauthorized secondary creation of musical works, etc. In recent years, the chaos of “Music Tailoring” has also appeared on some short video platforms: some music creators intercepted fragments of other music works, pieced together to create a new song. It is called the second creation tribute to the classics, but in fact it infringes the music copyright of others.
Experts said that the second creation is an act of adaptation and compilation, and the second creation of a musical work can only be done after obtaining the authorization of the original author and indicating the source of the copyright. According to the relevant laws and regulations of our country, those who use music without authorization may bear the consequences such as order to stop the performance and stop playing, administrative punishment, judicial compensation, and criminal liability.
Working together to protect music copyright
my country’s “Copyright Law” stipulates that copyright owners enjoy 13 property rights including performance rights, reproduction rights, broadcasting rights, and information network dissemination rights. The copyright owner can permit others to exercise these rights and receive remuneration in accordance with the law. When using the music of others, not only must use it reasonably in accordance with the law, but also obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay relevant remuneration for it.
However, it is indeed difficult to protect music copyrights. Huang Dejun, deputy dean of the School of Pop Music, Nanjing University of the Arts, pointed out that there are two difficulties in the protection of music copyrights. One is that music copyrights cannot be physically possessed. They cannot be effectively controlled and protected through possession like other property rights, and are therefore vulnerable to infringements; Second, the use of music copyright is not restricted by space, and there is no tangible loss in use, and it is prone to repeated large-scale infringements such as simultaneous infringement by multiple people and infringement in different places. Lower infringement costs will also lead to the expansion and aggravation of infringements.
Experts suggest that the protection of music copyright requires the joint efforts of platforms and users. When covering other people’s music, the user should sign the name of the songwriter at the beginning or end of the work; if the content of another person’s song is adapted, the author should obtain the right of adaptation; if it exceeds the scope of reasonable use of the work for profit purposes, it is also required Obtain performance rights, filming rights, and information network dissemination rights for related musical works.
The platform should also take the responsibility of actively monitoring and combating infringements. While improving the music copyright of its own music library, the platform should review the content of related works in advance and develop infringement reporting and handling mechanisms. If any infringement is found, the platform shall delete the relevant works in time, cooperate with the copyright owner to actively protect the rights, and provide corresponding compensation according to the actual situation.
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