Do film investors have the right to license film distribution?

Just like commercial blockbusters such as Hero and Golden Flower in the City, the shooting of commercial films [1] often requires a lot of money in a short time, ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of yuan. It seems an impossible task for any film production unit to concentrate such a huge sum of money in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, film investors [2] came into being, which can not only solve the contradiction of insufficient funds for film production units, but also enable some organs, enterprises, institutions, individuals and social groups that are not qualified to make films to participate in film production through investment, thus promoting the development and prosperity of the film industry and promoting the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and material civilization. Article 17 of the Regulations on Film Management stipulates that the state encourages state organs, enterprises and institutions, other social organizations and individual citizens to participate in film production in the form of funding and investment. Although this provision fully affirms the legitimacy of private capital's participation in film production from the level of administrative regulations, it does not clearly stipulate what rights film investors enjoy, so that in practice, there is great controversy about judging whether film investors have the right to permit the release of their films. This paper discusses this issue from different angles in order to attract more attention. Some people think that film investors do not have the main qualifications for film production and distribution, so they have no right to license film distribution. The reasons are as follows: 1. Article 5 of the Regulations on the Administration of Movies stipulates that the state implements a licensing system for film production, import, export, distribution, projection and distribution. Without permission, no unit or individual may engage in the production, import, distribution and projection of films. Article 3 of the Interim Provisions on Film Trading stipulates that any seller who participates in film trading must hold a distribution license issued by the government management department. Second, through the analysis of the above provisions, it can be clear that: 1. According to the "Regulations on Film Management", the filming and distribution of films shall be subject to the national licensing system, and no unit or individual may engage in filming and distribution activities without permission; 2. According to the requirements of the Interim Provisions on Film Trading, the subject of film trading must also have a film shooting and distribution license issued by the government management department before the film can be released. Without a film production and distribution license, film investors do not have the main qualifications for film production and film trading, and of course they have no right to conduct film trading. At the same time, according to Article 52 of the Contract Law, contracts that violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations are invalid, and the Film Management Regulations are administrative regulations. Therefore, the issuance license contract signed between the investor and the third party should also be invalid. Therefore, because the investor does not have the subject qualification for filming and trading, which violates the mandatory provisions of administrative regulations, the investor has no right to license the distribution of the film. He can only share the distribution income of the film as a pure investor and get a return on investment according to the investment ratio or contract after the film is successfully released. The author believes that film investors can enjoy the copyright of their investment films according to law, and can license others to use them according to the relevant provisions of the copyright law, and obtain income. The relevant provisions of the Regulations on Film Management and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading should not be legal obstacles for them to exercise their rights for the following reasons: 1. In commercial films, film investors, as the owners of film production and distribution, enjoy the legal status of film producers according to law, and film products factories, as film producers, only meet the legal form needs of film production procedures. A producer refers to a master who has the right to decide everything to shoot. He is the decision-maker and implementer of shooting and distribution. He has the right to decide what kind of script to shoot, which director, photographer and actor to hire, to manage the shooting funds, to audit the shooting funds, to fully control the shooting process, and to be responsible for the post-development and marketing of the film. Therefore, according to the commercial law that whoever invests has the final say, the producer of a commercial film refers to the film investor. In practice, film investors are mostly investment companies or individuals, such as Guangzhou International Overseas Chinese Investment Company and Zhang Weiping, the producer of the film Hero. According to Article 5 of the Film Management Regulations, films can only be produced by units that have obtained film production licenses with the permission of the state, and most film investors, as general investment companies or individuals, do not have the qualifications for film production licenses, and cannot independently complete the statutory procedures such as script filing and film review required for film production. Therefore, in practice, film investors and film producers often sign film production cooperation agreements for cooperative shooting, stipulating film investment, cooperation, copyright ownership, benefit distribution and so on. Both parties are responsible, and the film investor actually controls the filming and distribution, and performs relevant examination and approval procedures in the name of the film studio. Although the applicants recorded in the co-production approval procedure are all film production units, the status of investors in film production and distribution and the principle of consistency of powers and responsibilities cannot deny the status of film investors as producers. 2. According to the provisions of the Copyright Law, film investors, as producers of films, enjoy the copyright of films according to law, and investors have the right to license others to distribute and obtain profits. Article 15 of the Copyright Law stipulates that the copyright of film works and works created by similar film production methods shall be enjoyed by the producers. Therefore, film investors, as producers, enjoy the copyright of the films they invest in according to law. Article 10 of the Copyright Law stipulates that a copyright owner may exercise or license others to exercise his copyright and obtain remuneration in accordance with the agreement or legal provisions. Therefore, film investors have the right to exercise or license others to exercise and get paid according to law. Therefore, according to the provisions of the Copyright Law, film investors, as producers of investment films, have the right to license others to distribute the films according to law. Three, the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Administration of Films" and the "Interim Provisions on Film Trading" should not be legal obstacles for film investors to exercise their licensing rights. 1. The Copyright Law is more effective than the Regulations on Film Administration and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading. In case of any conflict between the above provisions, the copyright law shall be applied according to law, excluding the Film Management Regulations and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading, and protecting the film distribution license right of film investors according to law. As we all know, the Copyright Law is enacted by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), the Regulations on Film Management is an administrative regulation formulated by the State Council, and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading is an administrative regulation with low effectiveness. According to the provisions of Article 79 of the Legislative Law, the legal effect is higher than administrative regulations, local regulations and rules. Therefore, when the above-mentioned legal provisions conflict, the relevant provisions of the Copyright Law shall apply, and the Regulations on Film Administration and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading shall not apply. Therefore, according to Article 52 of the Contract Law, there is no legal basis for the view that the film distribution license contract signed by the producer and the third party is invalid, and the film investor enjoys the film distribution license right according to the provisions of the Copyright Law. 2. The film distribution license obtained by film investors according to law does not affect the normal order of the film market, nor does it hinder the state's management of the film industry, and should not be restricted or prohibited by the film management regulations and the interim provisions on film trading. The restrictive provisions on the subject and object of film production, distribution and screening, paid transfer and other activities in the Regulations on Film Management and the Interim Provisions on Film Trading were formulated by the film industry authorities in the process of China's film industry mechanism reform in order to strengthen industry management, further deepen reform and develop and prosper the film industry. Although film investors have no production license and distribution license, in practice, they do not directly participate in the production and distribution activities. The actual production and distribution of films are carried out by film production units and film distribution units with corresponding licenses. Moreover, because the scripts and films of films have been approved by the competent authorities and have a Film Distribution License, it will not affect the normal order of the film market subjectively or objectively, nor will it hinder the state's administrative management of the film industry, which is consistent with the development direction of the mechanism reform of the film industry. According to the characteristics of the film industry and the distribution of film works, the distribution license of film investors is the main way for the copyright owner of film works to exercise their copyright and obtain the return on investment. Therefore, protecting the distribution license rights enjoyed by film investors according to law is an important means to protect their investment income and an important incentive to encourage their film investment. Only in this way can film investors provide more abundant funds for the development of the film industry and better prosper the film industry in China. Note [1] The economic benefits attached to non-commercial films are not the main purpose of their pursuit, and non-commercial films cannot highlight the property rights of film investors. Taking commercial films as an example, this paper analyzes whether film investors have the right to film distribution, with a view to highlighting the film distribution rights enjoyed by investors. [2] In view of the fact that there are no legal obstacles for the units with the Film Production License and the Film Distribution License to enjoy the Film Distribution License according to law, and they have not been discussed in practice, so this article will not repeat them here. Investors mentioned in this article refer to organs, enterprises, institutions, other social organizations and individual citizens who have not obtained the film production license and film distribution license.