Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, about the copyright and signature right of movie scripts.

The film market in China is developing rapidly, but the status of screenwriters is still very low, and their copyright such as the right of authorship needs to be protected urgently. Recently, disputes about the author's right of authorship have increased dramatically. Through several typical disputes, this paper discusses some problems related to the author's right of signature, summarizes the experience of foreign countries, and thinks about how to protect the author's right of signature and other copyrights.

Screenwriter; Signature right; copyright

Writing year: 20 1 1 year.

main body

I. The Legal Status of Screenwriters With the rapid development of China's film market, more and more people began to pay attention to China's films, and they were shocked to know and understand some actors and directors through films. However, some people are invisibly ignored. They are one of the creators of the same film work. They have devoted as much effort as directors and actors, but they are unknown. Their rights have been violated and ignored again and again. They are writers. Screenplay refers to the author who creates scripts through words, that is, the story source of film and television dramas. Screenplay can even be said to be the core and soul of the whole film and television work. They should not only create a good storyline, but also implement it in the written script creation and select actors suitable for the script. A good film is often the product of a screenwriter writing a good script first and then creating it again with the director. As far as film works are concerned, the overall copyright should be enjoyed by the producer, while writers such as screenwriters, directors, photographers, lyricists and composers have their own right of authorship, the right to ask others to recognize the right of authorship of their works, and the right to receive remuneration according to the contract signed with the producer. Therefore, no one is allowed to infringe the authorship of the screenwriter at will.

Secondly, as can be seen from many cases, the authorship of the screenwriter is directed by Zhang Zhiliang, a Hong Kong-made director. After the film Mo Attack starring Andy Lau and Fan Bingbing was released in 2006, there was a dispute over the authorship of the screenwriter. Li Shuxing, the screenwriter and Hunan playwright of Mo Attack, then took Zhang Zhiliang to court. Li Shuxing claimed that in 1998, at the invitation of Zhang Zhiliang, he spent a year writing the film literary script "The Battle of Mozi". However, the story background, characters, contents and scenes of the film Mo Attack are almost the same as those of The Battle of Mozi, and the characters' lines are the same or similar to the script in many places. However, the subtitles of the film show that the screenwriter is Zhang Zhiliang, and Li Shuxing's name is arranged in the staff column. Li Shuxing asked the court to order Zhang Zhiliang to stop the infringement, destroy the infringing works and publicly apologize; Compensation is 6.5438+0.085 million yuan. Zhang Zhiliang's agent said in court that the script involved was adapted from the Japanese manga "Don't Attack", and Li Shuxing only participated in the adaptation of the movie script and was a member of the film crew. (1) but the fact is that the script of the movie "Mo Attack" is indeed [1] based on the script "The Battle of Mozi". Although some characters have changed, it is undeniable that Li Shuxing contributed to the script of Mo Gong, but his authorship was deprived by director Zhang Zhiliang. Although there are three names in the final thank-you list of the film, such as screenwriter Li Shuxing, in fact, the most striking part of the film subtitles is that Zhang Zhiliang is a screenwriter, producer and director, which is undoubtedly infringement. After being tried by the Beijing Intermediate People's Court, the case supported Li Shuxing's request, which is also the first case in which the screenwriter won the case against the director recently. After Li Shuxing won the right to write a screenplay, the film "The warlords" made the screenwriters see the confidence of the author's identity. There are nine screenwriters in The Warlords, and director Chen Kexin said in an interview that he fully affirmed the contribution of every hard-working screenwriter. Just when we thought that the writer's right of authorship was gradually valued by people, the dispute over the right of authorship in the film Orphan of Zhao let us down again. In 2008, at the invitation of Chen Kaige, he and his colleague Ren Baoru wrote The Orphan of Zhao based on Historical Records and the story of Yuan Zaju. In July 2009, after finishing the first half of The Orphan of Zhao, Gao Heren withdrew from the creation of the film because of disagreement with director Chen Kaige on the direction of the script. The film Orphan of Zhao was released in February, 65438, with the subtitle of "Chen Kaige" and the name of Ren Baoru as "Early Script Creation". This makes the two writers feel that their rights have been violated, and also makes the writer's right of signature and the writer's weak position become the focus of discussion again.

Three. My opinion on the dispute of orphan Zhao's right of authorship. The difference between "pre-script creation" and screenwriter. Chen Hong, the producer of The Orphan of Zhao, later told the media that the two screenwriters did not complete all the screenplays, but the signature "Pre-screenplay Creation" was approved by lawyers, and there was no problem. Then there is a problem here. Is there a legal basis for this "early script creation" in the copyright law? I read the whole copyright law, and the answer is no, and the relevant legal norms do not stipulate the concept of "pre-script creation". And this concept does not mean the establishment of its screenwriter status. Echo Gao contributed her strength in the early stage of script creation, and the whole script included her labor. Her withdrawal should not affect her position as a screenwriter. Orphan of Zhao is written by Chen Kaige, Ren Baoru. According to Article 13 of the Copyright Law, the copyright of a work created by two or more persons is jointly owned by the co-authors. Article 15 The copyright of a film work and a work created by a method similar to film production shall be enjoyed by the producer, but writers such as screenwriters, directors, photographers, lyricists and composers shall enjoy the right of authorship and receive remuneration according to the contract signed with the producer. "Chen Kaige, Echo Gao and Ren Baoru, as co-authors, should enjoy the right of authorship of the play. 2. Issues related to the signing of contracts between writers and producers. The dispute over the authorship right of the screenwriter of The Orphan of Zhao leads to another problem, which is related to the contract signed between the screenwriter and the producer. Chen Hong, the producer of The Orphan of Zhao, said in an interview that "before the script is written" is reasonable for me, and we respect everyone's work. Before confirming this, we checked the contracts signed by everyone and confirmed these signatures accompanied by lawyers. "Chen Hong proposed that Echo Gao failed to hand over the follow-up script in time for personal reasons. After the two sides negotiated the time again, some of the handed-over scripts were ambiguous and the contract was finally terminated. Then this involves whether the contract signed by Echo Gao and producer Chen Hong involves signature. If the contract is terminated due to unilateral reasons, is there any clause about the attribution of the right of authorship of the script completed before the termination of the contract? In this case, judging from Chen Hong's statement, there is no agreement in this aspect in the contract he signed, which is very unfavorable to Echo Gao. [2] Because the screenwriter is in a weak position, the contracts signed are often unequal. For example, it is stipulated that the script needs to be revised until it is "satisfied with the customer" or "ready to shoot". And this "satisfaction" and "shooting" are vague, and the screenwriter can't grasp and confirm it specifically. If the contract is not comprehensive and reasonable, the producer can ignore the screenwriter's labor, arbitrarily delete and sign the script, and the screenwriter's right to integrity, signature and modification of the work itself will not be guaranteed. ②

Fourthly, the present situation and shortcomings of the protection of the right of authorship of screenwriters in China, whether it is Mo Chong case, Zhao orphan case or other cases I didn't mention, all show the phenomenon that screenwriters are in a weak position. The problem faced by screenwriters is not only the infringement of the right of authorship. Over the years, the rights and interests of screenwriters have been violated in many ways. Many screenwriters write scripts without pay, scripts are resold without authorization, scripts are modified at will without greeting the screenwriters, and their signatures are occupied without authorization. All kinds of movie posters and other propaganda have intentionally or unintentionally ignored and obliterated the writer's right of authorship, and so on. The surge of disputes over the creation of film and television scripts has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of screenwriters and dampened their creative enthusiasm. [3] With the efforts of screenwriters and the strong support and guidance of the legal profession and relevant departments, in recent years, the writers' achievements in safeguarding rights, like their awareness of safeguarding rights, have been significantly improved. However, the protection of copyright such as the right of authorship of screenwriters in China is still not in place, so we should quantify the works of screenwriters according to law and determine their right of authorship. Establishing industry rules and promoting strict implementation of the whole industry ... these are all things that our copyright law should pay more attention to. 、

Verb (the abbreviation of verb) is a reference to the copyright protection of screenwriters abroad, but in foreign countries, the copyright protection of screenwriters is much more perfect. Hollywood's scriptwriting system is much more comprehensive. There is a local law called the screen credit manual. This manual is jointly formulated by the writers' association and the producers, and has strong binding force. The definitions of "author", "story author" and "screen story" are defined. At the same time, there are also regulations on the number of signatures. In every detail, "screenwriter by" is more like the category of works made by domestic screenwriters at present. In principle, no more than two signatures are required. Under special circumstances, a single screenwriter can sign a contract with three people, or two screenwriter teams can sign a contract. In addition, there are very strict quantitative standards for the percentage of scripts written, as well as original and original scripts. It can be used as a reference for relevant laws and regulations in the Mainland. In addition, foreign screenwriters also know how to safeguard their rights and interests. From June 2007 to February 2008, the American Writers Association went on strike because of copyright income, which led to the paralysis of Hollywood. The specific reason for the strike is that in recent years, entertainment products have more forms of market output, such as DVD, Internet, mobile phone paid download and so on. The strike was supported by politicians such as Hillary Clinton. Finally, the screenwriter succeeded and signed a new agreement with the producer. Sixth, how to solve the copyright protection problems such as the writer's right of signature. At present, we only understand the intellectual property law, but we can't establish a perfect ideological system for copyright-related issues. Based on my own thinking and referring to other people's literature, I summarized the following methods to better protect the copyright of screenwriters. 1. Establish and improve legal norms. At present, the fundamental reason why the rights and interests of screenwriters are generally not guaranteed is that the legal norms concerning the copyright of screenwriters are not perfect. China should formulate corresponding laws and regulations to plan the details. For example, as far as the right of signature is concerned, it specifies the specific terms of the right of signature enjoyed by the screenwriter, under what circumstances this right of signature can be established, whether the completed part can be enjoyed when the script is unfinished, whether this right of signature can be transferred and the conditions for transfer. Although China's Copyright Law has some provisions on the rights of screenwriters, these provisions need to be improved and refined. 2. The establishment of a standardized film market system can effectively avoid the infringement of the rights of screenwriters by some overlord clauses in the current market. In the contract with the producer, due to the low status of the screenwriter, some unfair terms have to be signed, such as "no money, no filming, no money, no qualification" and so on. Because these terms have not been carefully standardized, the decision-making power lies with the producer, and the so-called eligibility criteria are also unilaterally decided by the producer, which is unfair to the screenwriter, and it is easy for him to get no remuneration, and even some copyrights, such as the right of signature, should come to the end. This requires perfect market norms to restrain producers. 3. The writers themselves improve their awareness of risk and self-protection. Screenwriters have paid creative labor for the completion of film and television works, and their labor achievements deserve to be respected and rewarded. Therefore, the author should take preventive measures in advance. [4] Any preventive measures beforehand are more direct and effective than the relief measures afterwards. Especially in the absence of direct legal provisions, the screenwriter can negotiate with the producer on an equal footing and sign a written contract of authorship, which can reduce many troubles and disputes afterwards and prevent problems before they happen. At the same time, writers should actively seek assistance. After disputes, including the right of authorship, occur, if the screenwriter can't solve the problem through mediation with the producer, he can seek legal advice or judicial assistance from relevant institutions or lawyers, or he can put pressure on the producer through the media to safeguard his rights. 4. appeal to many people to pay attention to screenwriters. As an important force in the film industry, screenwriters should be paid attention to. China film industry needs excellent screenwriters. Strengthening people's attention to screenwriters can encourage them to work harder to create good domestic films. At the same time, public supervision and attention will also effectively protect the rights of screenwriters.

Brief introduction of the author

Xing, a legal free man.

To annotate ...

[1] Art Review, 0 1, 2007, p. 46: You Yun, On the Issue of the Signature Right of Mo Attack from the Legal Angle.

[2] 2010 June "Legal System and Economy" Page 75: Li Bo "On the Protection of Writers' Right of Signature" 2010/2.6 Southern Metropolis Daily: "The orphan Zhao's right of signature is controversial".

[3] 2010 65438+China Culture News on February 22nd: Early screenwriters of Orphan Zhao called for a quantitative standard of authorship.

[4] China Science and Technology Information13,227: Li Rong and Huang Zhen "On the Status Quo and Legal Protection of the Right of Signature".

refer to

{1} Netease Entertainment: The controversial screenwriter questioned the signature of The Orphan of Zhao.

{2} Xinhuanet: Why has it become a "depression" of rights and interests —— Behind the dispute over the scriptwriter's signature of The Orphan of Zhao.

{3} Southern Metropolis Daily: Is it "screenwriter" or "early script creation" that can't be relied upon?

{4} Li Bo: On the protection of the writer's right of authorship —— Thoughts triggered by the film "Don't be attacked".

(5) China Publishing magazine Zheng Xiaohong: Summary of Copyright Protection of Screenplays in China in Recent Years.

{6} Zhang:' On the dispute of Mo Feng's authorship'.

(7) Zhao Hua: On the author's right of signature.

{8} Dong: On the legal nature of the right of authorship of works.

{9} Li Rong and Huang Zhen: On the present situation and legal protection of the right of signature.

{10} Xiaobing Zhou: Re-discussion on some issues of signature right in judicial practice.