Copyright and characteristics of movie scripts

According to Article 11 of the Copyright Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the copyright belongs to the author.

First, screenplays belong to literary works. Even if it is finally made into a film, it can be published independently without the second creation of directors and actors, and its literary value can be reflected in words. The script will inevitably be adjusted and changed during the shooting process, and it has experienced the second creation such as actor performance, director scheduling, photography and editing. Therefore, when the script is made into a film, it is different from the original script (once again reduced to a text script), and the film and the copyright of the film belong to all producers-that is, the production company. As for whether the original script can be used independently as a written work, the author and producer need to indicate it when concluding the transfer contract.

2. At present, the practice of China's film industry is that the production company entrusts the author to create the script and obtains all the property rights of the film script at one time, that is, the rights in Article 10 (5) to (17) of the Copyright Law, including the right to film, the right to performance and the right to adaptation. Screenwriters have the right of authorship and remuneration. In practice, screenwriters need to provide copyright authorization in film projects, but at this time, screenwriters often don't get full compensation, which is an administrative defect. However, copyright disputes over signature and adaptation are more common. At present, there is no written industry practice to follow. The specific ownership of script copyright, the division of other rights and the way of getting remuneration should be agreed in the contract between the screenwriter and the production company.

Third, unlike countries such as Britain, France and Japan, the practice of Hollywood film industry is that the copyright of movie scripts belongs to production companies, and the scripts entrusted by authors belong to "job works". (Once the independent original works are sold to the company), the author does not own the copyright independently, but at the same time, through the relevant provisions of the collective labor agreement of the writers' union (that is, the basic agreement of the union), the author has the right of authorship, the right to remuneration not less than the minimum wage, the right to revise the first draft, the right to partially restrict publication, the right to adapt the stage play, the right to redeem the script, the right to receive remuneration for derivative products, and the right to old-age medical security.