Will Magic be Protected as A Work under China’s Copyright Law?

(By Luo Yanjie)

Case summary:

Yigal Messika is an Israeli magician. In March 2008, Messika began to design a tool used in his magic show named Tarantula, through the operation of which the audience could see floating art objects. Messika filmed a DVD recording his performance with the Tarantula. The Tarantula DVD went on sale in the United States on February 29, 2000, accompanied by the Tarantula gimmick. Each pair was sold for $ 75. Later on, Messika heard that his product was being ripped off by a Chinese businessman starting in April 2009. The copyright holder subsequently filed a lawsuit in court to protect the copyright infringed. The Court held that, because China, the US and Israel are all signatories to the Berne Convention, once the plaintiff’s magic met the standards in China’s Copyright Law, it could be protected by China’s laws.

READ MORE

Will Magic be Protected as A Work under China’s Copyright Law?

5064a

(By Luo Yanjie) Magic has long been a popular medium with which to entertain an audience, and how one should legally protect magic has long been a problem in the law. This problem has become especially obvious now that we have seen arguments regarding magic and the requirement that an expression be “original” as stipulated in the Copyright Law. Today, we would like to introduce to our readers how China protects magic works based on a case heard by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court, which can be considered the first established case concerning the magic work.

READ MORE

Is It Necessary to Receive Approval from the Rights Holder of an Original Work in Order to Use Adapted Work?

s2366722

(By Luo Yanjie) Recent internet news has stated that the film adaption rights for Big Breast & Wide Hips, the work of 2012 Nobel laureate, Mo Yan, have sold for RMB 11,180,000 yuan, and the film will be directed by Zhang Yimou. Although Mo Yan’s agency ultimately confirmed that this was a false rumor, the cinematographic adaption of Mo Yan’s work has garnered public attention. With the trend of greater diversity in forms of work, we have seen more and more works recomposed in other artistic forms. Legally speaking, this re-composition actually belongs to adaption under the Copyright Law, and the work created is therefore adapted work. Today’s post will introduce the Chinese system for adaption of the film and cinematographic works.

READ MORE

Is It Copyright Infringement to Perform “Gangnam Style” at a Corporate Annual Gala in China?

506313c1c4cc11b2309016

(By You Yunting) PSY, the most popular South Korean Artist, has achieved more than 1 billion clicks, or views, on Youtube for his music video “Gangnam Style,” and has earned a global reputation. To perform Psy’s signature “horse-riding” dance has become an integral part of domestic corporate annual galas in China. In fact, the partners of our law firm have been encouraged by colleagues to perform the dance for everyone’s amusement. The problem was that none of us could actually perform the “horse-riding” dance properly. When facing such horrible demands from coworkers, a question raised by one of our associates interested me: would a performance of “Gangnam Style” infringe others’ lawful rights?

READ MORE

How Long Is the Copyright Protection Period of Foreign Companies and Individuals in China?

By You Yunting

A reader asked: Does Chinese law protects the copyrights of foreign companies and individuals? And, how long is the protection period? Today’s post will discuss this question.

I. The three requirements for granting copyrights to the works of foreign individuals or companies

Whether or not the work of a foreign person, company, or stateless person enjoys the copyright protection period depends on whether or not they qualify as a Chinese copyright holder. By Article 2 of China’s Copyright Law, one of the following three conditions must be met:

READ MORE