On January 6, Nandu reporter learned that the National Copyright Administration interviewed major record companies, songwriting copyright companies and digital music platforms in Beijing, asking all parties in the digital music industry to work together to maintain the order of digital music copyright and build a good ecology of digital music copyright. Among them, the meeting clearly mentioned that record companies, songwriters and digital music platforms are not allowed to sign exclusive copyright agreements except in special circumstances.
It is reported that the National Copyright Administration required all parties in the digital music industry to abide by copyright laws and regulations, exercise and maintain rights in accordance with the law, resist all kinds of music copyright infringements, cooperate with the National Copyright Administration's key copyright supervision of digital music, implement the measures of relevant departments to maintain the order of digital music copyright, support relevant copyright collective management organizations to carry out digital music authorization work in accordance with the law, and promote the wide and orderly dissemination of digital music.
The interview emphasized that all record companies, songwriting copyright companies, and digital music platforms should adopt an authorization model that conforms to the laws of music dissemination, the principle of fairness and reasonableness, and the rules of international practice, and should be settled through the mode of guarantee and actual usage sharing, and shall not sign an exclusive copyright agreement except in special circumstances; improve the internal copyright management system, and authorize music works should have a clear catalog of music libraries, clear copyright ownership, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright holders and relevant right holders of musical works; priority should be given to consultation. Mediation and other means to resolve copyright disputes between parties in the digital music industry, actively explore mechanisms for authorizing the use of new scenes and new musical works; and establish a digital music copyright operation model that meets market demand.
It is understood that in 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued penalties such as ordering Tencent to lift the exclusive copyright of online music in accordance with the law, requiring it to stop the payment method of copyright fees such as high advance payments, and not requiring upstream copyright owners to give them conditions that are superior to competitors without legitimate reasons. The monopoly pattern of exclusive music copyright has changed. Today, the world's three major record companies have also abandoned the exclusive licensing model and switched to "distribution" to cooperate with various online music platforms.
The National Copyright Administration said that they attach great importance to the protection of digital music copyright, and in 2015, they incorporated the special rectification of digital music copyright into the key tasks of the "Sword Net Action", and formulated the "three-step" work idea of digital music legalization, that is, to combat infringement and piracy, standardize the authorization model and improve the business model, which effectively promoted the development of China's digital music industry. However, due to the complexity of the copyright issue of musical works, the variety of application scenarios of works, and the imperfection of the authorization model formed in history, the copyright relations between all parties in the digital music industry need to be further standardized and straightened out.
The participating units said that they will strictly implement the interview requirements of the National Copyright Administration, further improve the digital music licensing model and business model, jointly promote the construction of a good digital music copyright ecology, and promote the prosperity and healthy development of China's digital music market.
Written by: Nandu reporter Xu Bingqian
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