On December 15, the China Online Audiovisual Program Service Association issued the "Detailed Rules for the Standards for the Review of Online Short Video Content" (2021), which was comprehensively revised on the basis of the 2019 edition, in addition to the improvement of issues such as pan-entertainment, vulgar and vulgar kitsch that are highly concerned about society, and also clarified that "short videos shall not be edited without authorization".
In the past two years, the dispute over long and short videos has been raging, especially in April this year, first 15 film and television industry associations, 53 film and television companies and 5 video websites issued statements condemning short videos for copyright infringement, and then more institutions and 514 artists issued a joint proposal calling on short video platforms to promote copyright content management and clean up unauthorized content. Many netizens also expressed their opinions on this dispute, some netizens supported the protection of long videos, and some netizens believed that short videos had the attribute of "comment" and had their rationality.
There is no shortage of voice suggestions, long and short video platforms can establish cooperative relations to achieve a win-win situation, such as long videos to provide part of the public material, this part of the material can be used by short video creators, the use of the way can also be divided into free use and paid use, if the income is generated, the sharing model is also a good choice. If the cooperation can operate normally in an open and transparent rule environment, it is indeed a good thing for both sides, but from the later stage of the situation, the long and short video platform does not seem to have tried to negotiate this, although there is no big news, but many people believe that the competition between the two sides has not stopped.
The "Detailed Rules" issued by associations with certain binding force are considered to be a clear adjudication signal for the dispute over long and short video platforms - since the relevant enterprises cannot reach a cooperation agreement, then clear provisions are not a way to calm the "war". "Unauthorized self-cutting, adaptation of movies, TV series, online film and television dramas and other types of audio-visual programs and fragments" will be identified as violations, this kind of whether from the literal meaning or deep understanding, can clearly get the conclusion of the requirements, will undoubtedly play a guiding role in the next dispute, but whether the dispute over long and short videos will be settled, it will take a certain amount of time to test.
It is safe to say that the Detailed Rules are helpful for the protection of film and television copyrights. Film and television works have long been plagued by piracy and unauthorized use, and legitimate rights and interests have not been well protected, and over time it has become a "big and difficult" problem. However, specific to the unauthorized use of short video platforms, there are indeed some ambiguous areas, such as short video platforms that believe that short videos uploaded by netizens based on long video clips bear the responsibility for infringement, and short video platforms will delete them after receiving complaints or reports. This is also a common practice on other Internet platforms. If you want to protect film and television copyright more thoroughly, you also need to clarify the content that is used without authorization, and when it comes to accountability, whether the platform or the creator is responsible, or both parties are responsible.
After the launch of the revised version of the Detailed Rules, there is still a certain amount of time to land, and there must be real cases or jurisprudence to give more and more detailed standards for whether short videos are infringed or not. First of all, a large number of short video creators, will not be because of the launch of the new version of the "Detailed Rules", and completely disappear, they will still be in their own way, a variety of expressions, without touching the legal red line, they will be in order to meet their own desire to create and show the desire to bring challenges to long videos; secondly, do not rule out that there are long video parties, bypassing the "Rules" to establish cooperation with short video creators, through short video editing to achieve the purpose of publicity, creating topics, treat such cooperation, how should the long video party look at it, It also needs to be clear and give boundaries.
In 2005, the short video producer Hu Ge became popular on the Internet with "A Blood Case Caused by a Steamed Bun", and Chen Kaige, the director of "Wuji", was extremely dissatisfied with this, at that time, Hu Ge won the support of the vast majority of netizens. Today, the possibility of "A Bloody Case Caused by a Steamed Bun" will be greatly reduced, and if the filmmaker sues Hu Ge for "unauthorized use of film clips", then under the protection of relevant regulations, the prosecution has a high probability of winning.
A sharp short video producer like Hu Ge is unlikely to be born, and the launch of the revised version of the "Detailed Rules" will make short video creators and netizens spontaneously produce short video content, which will form a certain pressure. Of course, whether the initiative to give this pressure is in the hands of the long video side, then the long video side must also make a choice: whether to support and encourage praise of the short video can be released, the criticism of the short video rights protection? If there is a different attitude and ambiguity in the selection, then the revised "Rules" will still have difficulties in implementation.
For netizens who like to create short videos, the biggest role of the revised version of the "Detailed Rules" is to play a role in reminding and dissuading, in the production or dissemination of content related to film and television works, we must have a sense of respect for copyright, do not inadvertently, become an infringer.
Wen | Han Haoyue (Special Commentator of Red Star News Culture Channel)
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