Comment on the introduction of variety shows repeatedly encountered copyright disputes: it is better to innovate independently than to be forced to change its name

If we blindly borrow foreign models, we can only make a wedding for foreign companies in the end. Only the original program model is the foundation and long-term solution for any successful program production unit or satellite TV platform in the future.

In early March, Tangde Film and Television Company, which obtained the copyright of "The Voice of China" from Talpa Company of the Netherlands, issued an announcement stating that the Arbitration Tribunal of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center made a final ruling, ruling that all intellectual property rights, including the name of the Chinese program "The Voice of China", belong to the original copyright party, Talpa Company of the Netherlands.

Half a month later, the plot turned rapidly. On March 15, Canxing Production Company, the previous copyright owner and producer of "The Voice of China", issued a statement: It was confirmed that the Hong Kong Arbitration Tribunal did not rule on the ownership of intellectual property rights such as program names from the perspective of China law.

This means that although the domestic copyright of "The Good Voice of China" has changed hands, the ownership of the Chinese name "The Good Voice of China" has not yet been settled and the court has yet to make a decision in accordance with the law.

In fact, in the past two years, variety shows "The Voice of China" and "I am a Singer", which are among the top rated variety shows in China, have to change their names and broadcast them. This year's new season of "Run! Although Brother "has not yet started broadcasting, there is already definite information indicating that the program has changed its name.

The name change of variety shows is actually due to three reasons: copyright disputes, radio and television policies, and standardized terminology.

A TV industry insider told reporters that what is noteworthy about the renaming of "The Voice of China" program is that it gave up purchasing program models promoted by foreign TV production organizations and turned to original research and development to produce new programs with intellectual property rights belonging to China. However, due to restrictions from overseas model parties, it is impossible to use the program brand that it has named and created for many years.

Canxing Productions and Zhejiang Satellite TV jointly raised the "popular IP" of "The Voice of China", but they want to hand it over to others. This involves legal issues. Yin Fenglin, director of the China Intellectual Property Law Research Association, cited the "The Voice of China" program as an example and pointed out that foreign Talpa companies only provide initial ideas and methods to realize ideas to domestic companies. According to the provisions of my country's intellectual property laws, most of these contents cannot be protected by patents, trademarks or copyrights. However, Talpa Company uses complex contract terms to design and claim to own all intellectual property rights of all works created by domestic companies during the model cooperation. This is obviously unfair.

The competition in the domestic variety show market is too fierce, and many people are attracted to it. However, there are only a handful of people who are truly patient in R & D. According to incomplete statistics, since 2014, the domestic variety industry has been popular in introducing overseas models. Among the programs broadcast by domestic TV stations and websites, a total of 63 programs cooperated with foreign copyrights this year, accounting for 90% of the country's variety shows.

It is relatively convenient to purchase foreign copyrights and the probability of obtaining successful ratings is relatively high, but it seems that it is not without risks now. "The Voice of China" is undoubtedly a representative of "risk."

Last year, Talpa Company of the Netherlands and Canxing Company had a dispute over the renewal of the contract due to increased model fees, and finally went to court. Since then, the copyright belongs differently, but the name of the program "The Voice of China" was forced to change to "New Voice of China", and the program production model also changed accordingly.

Foreign copyright parties have started prices on the ground, and model fees have risen. This is an experience experienced by many domestic phenomenal variety shows. Since the introduction of foreign copyright is a "ticking time bomb", it forces domestic TV production companies and satellite TV platforms to invest capital and manpower in original research and development of programs, which also requires them to have the courage and determination to accept market testing.

Encourage originality, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television takes the lead. In June last year, the State Administration of China issued the "Notice on Vigorously Promoting Independent Innovation of Radio and Television Programs". On the one hand, it supports and encourages independent original programs and requires all radio and television organizations to regard original program as the core of independent innovation work. On the other hand, it stipulates that provincial satellite TV stations will At most one new program with overseas copyright will be introduced every year.

The unresolved dispute in "The Voice of China" warns domestic program production companies that if they blindly borrow foreign models, they will ultimately only be a wedding for foreign companies. Only the original program model is the foundation and long-term solution for any successful program production unit or satellite TV platform in the future.

Editor: Nancy