Is it protected by the Copyright Law?
The live broadcast of the e-sports event screen is different from the live broadcast of the produced e-sports event program. The properties of the e-sports event screen are still in dispute, but the e-sports event program that has been planned and produced as a whole is a work and must not be broadcast or rebroadcasted without authorization.
Regarding whether the picture of the e-sports event constitutes a work, a point of view is simply analogized to the live broadcast screen of sports events. It is believed that many of the current live e-sports games are in the competitive category, and the State General Administration of Sports has clearly listed e-sports As the 78th sports competition in China, the live broadcast screens of sports events cannot be regarded as works, and the e-sports game screens do not constitute works. However, some scholars pointed out that “the live video of online games is quite different from the live games, and this difference is also based on the fundamental difference between online games and sports events: The former is always written in advance by online game designers The program and the screen generated by the operation, the latter is a highly combined player’s body and personal skills, there is no problem subject to the preset program. This distinction makes it impossible to based on sports events It is non-production and denies the work quality of the live video of online games.
I agree with the latter view. E-sports events and sports events are different, and a genre analysis of the game is recommended . The game screens used as e-sports items can be composed of film works that are protected by the Copyright Law when they are ornamental, rich in plots, and coherent. [5] The public enjoys the live video of e-sports games, as if watching an anime movie, the properties of its work should be affirmed, and the game ’s competitive picture , Always based on the software code preset by the programmer and the artistic material created by the designer in advance, with the properties of the work. In this process, unless the gameplay allows (such as sandbox game pioneering gameplay) , e-sports players will not generate new creations due to manipulation of the game .
Before the view that the gaming screen should be protected by the Copyright Law is fully recognized by the judiciary, the operators of the gaming industry should actively avoid the risks caused by legal disputes and take the initiative to integrate the gaming events as a whole Place and systematically arrange the script plan, add modifications such as opening, stage special effects, artist singing, etc., and finally produce and process into a complete event program. In this way, a large and complete e-sports event can beThe composition works are protected by the Copyright Law. In addition, the illegal recording and broadcasting of e-sports games and unauthorized transmission of game signals may constitute unfair competition behaviors, and rights can also be protected from the perspective of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. (Author’s statement: The opinions in this article only represent the opinions of the author, not the opinions of the author’s organization.)
Reference:
[1] See the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China: “New Occupation-Analysis Report on the Current Situation of the Employment Prosperity of E-sports Operators”. http://www.mohrss.gov.cn/SYrlzyhshbzb/dongtaixinwen/buneiyaowen/201907/t20190705_322555.html
[2] See “2018 E-sports Industry Report”, Whale Research Institute, July 2018 https://max.book118.com/html/2018/1221 /6110222155001240.shtm
[3] Source: Based on publicly available information, research and rendering by iResearch.
[4] Feng Xiaoqing, “Research on the Attributes and Related Copyright Issues of Online Games Live Screens,” Intellectual Property, Issue 1, 2017, pp. 3-13 .
[5] See Judgment No. 529 of Puminsan (Zhi) Chuzi No. 529, Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court (2015), Guangzhou Internet Court (2018), Guangdong 0192, Minchu 1 Civil Judgement.
[6] See Civil Judgment of Shanghai Intellectual Property Court (2015) Hu Zhi Min Zi Zi No.641.
This article is from WeChat public account: Tencent Research Institute (ID: cyberlawrc) , Author: Sun Yufei