Collective management of copyright: the only way to solve the massive mandate

Liu Ping

The spring of 2011, copyright protection for music in China is an "eventful" season. First, songwriters and other musicians in early Gu Jianfen public statement that the only long-standing lack of respect for the original singer of respect for the social phenomenon, and called on the original of the whole society to respect the legitimate rights and interests. After the Spring Festival, the famous singer Wang Fenggong opening statement against singer "the sun masculine" public concert of music of their creation, "spring." Then late in March, Gao Xiaosong, and other famous musicians publicly denounce Baidu MP3 music infringement. These events are aroused great repercussion in the community, the situation of China's copyright protection and therefore the community has been unprecedented attention.

Music is a country and a important part of national culture, but also beyond the borders of race and the common language of the human mind. The prosperity of a country music industry with a degree of prosperity is closely related to national culture. The music industry is based on the development and prosperity of the improvement of copyright protection systems, this system is perfect for music copyrights both the legal protection of the rights and interests, but also create a user with the right people in the music industry benign symbiotic chain. This is like the relationship between the two sides of a coin, interdependent, indispensable.

The only way to solve the massive mandate

Because the cause of China's IPR protection started late awareness of copyright law generally more indifferent in the user level, leading to the community of music copyright protection, especially for the majority of original music copyright status of human rights protection there is a great loss, especially with the copyright protection is relatively developed compared to countries and regions. Such as the performing rights in musical works, despite China's "Copyright Law" has long provided public performances in the commercial music of others, you need the consent of the copyright holder's permission to become a lawful behavior, but whether in live performance areas (such as concert singer, etc.), or in the field of mechanical performance (such as background music commercial establishments, etc.) are widespread use of other music infringement.

The face of mass society the right to use existing music acts, relying on the ability of copyright holders themselves can not really solve the problem of copyright licensing. Main reason is: First, the scope and frequency of use of such acts is enormous, while over the whole society, and even around the world; Secondly, the use value of such acts to a single-use behavior, the general is not very large, its value have used the law of mass behavior in its cumulative earnings. Therefore, if by one by one through negotiations on price, contract to address the use of such a mass, usually not worth the candle from an economic standpoint, from a technical point of view but also to achieve impossible to achieve. The international copyright licensing issues to solve such the only effective solution is to establish and implement the legal system of collective management of copyright.

For centuries, the legal cause of collective management of copyright at home and abroad of many proven, for as performance rights, broadcasting rights and other copyright holders to exercise the copyright of individual rights is difficult, the implementation of the legal system of collective management of copyright is the only viable only way.

Effectively ensure the right to play professional advantage

The so-called collective management of copyright is the copyright owner that a large number of similar joint exercise of copyright rights to form a centralized organization, the majority of the individual copyright owners to exercise their copyright is difficult to trust or entrusted to the organization by the organization and full use of all sectors of society by a negotiated settlement and to receive relevant copyright licensing issues and the allocation of copyright royalties to the relevant copyright owner, so that we can whole, faces a large area to solve the user authorized to use the issue of massive copyright.

For the users, even if technically one day to resolve contract negotiations, each of mass use of problem, but how to tell confirmed the authenticity of the copyright owner's rights is another insurmountable problem. In real life, copyright transfer, and multi-common situation everywhere, and the user can not have such rights and informed enough information. In this case, the copyright collective management organizations can play to their professional advantage, users can be effectively used to identify and confirm the real work right information, and professional organizations as a copyright, the annual accumulation, with similar organizations around the world to share Copyright information system data, you can play a critical authorization process rights certification role, that can solve the verification of the user facing the use of copyright information to confirm the problem. It is based on the above two reasons, making the collective management of copyright legal system has become a worldwide movement is difficult to solve the exercise of individual rights of the copyright owner authorized to issue common practice. In view of copyright collective management organizations in a national copyright law system, an important function and role in the world in many countries and regions of the Copyright Law specifically on the copyright collective management to a special regulation, enacted to promote copyright collective management systems universal and the implementation of the many supporting measures For example, the establishment or extension of compulsory collective management of copyright legal system.

The establishment of healthy balance of industrial symbiosis

Throughout the legislative purpose of national copyright law, nothing less boils down to two: First, protect the legitimate interests of copyright holders; the second is to promote the interests of rights holders and users of balance. Not antagonistic relationship between the two, but a coordinated relationship. In other words, a creator of cultural products are not created out of hope that it will "press box at the end", but want to be spread widely, but this is the required transmission should be legal, is able to maintain creative driving force, is with the market value of the law.