| Abstrakt: |
In Chinese law, the seemingly transparent condition of originality has been used to classify audiovisual productions into two categories: videograms protectable by neighboring rights and cinematographic works protectable by copyright, the latter of which benefit from a higher level of protection. However, the reality is that audiovisual productions often involve the intellectual efforts of their production teams, as shown through the live broadcasting of sporting events, such that one cannot completely deny the absence of originality therein. In addition, considering that the legitimate interests of TV and broadcasting organizations are justified by their significant investments and the need to prohibit rampant retransmission of their broadcasts on the Internet, it is no longer possible to maintain the distinction between cinematographic works and non-copyrightable audiovisual productions. In these circumstances, a series of famous cases and doctrinal debates regarding live broadcasting of sporting events have triggered the revolutionary reform of the Copyright Law of China in 2020, in which the statutory category of cinematographic works has been replaced by audiovisual works. This reform has not only granted copyright protection to all audiovisual productions but has also adopted the minimum threshold requirement for which copyrightable works may qualify for originality. This minimum threshold will likely further open the door of copyrights to encompass all productions vital to industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
