Long-form video defenders personally sue: Why do we have so much trouble "fighting" with short videos?

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The struggle between long and short videos has become the core issue of the year due to the copyright dispute over film and television content, and it has attracted much attention inside and outside the circle.

Respect for originality and respect for intellectual property rights is the basic consensus of the content industry. But what we see is that the phenomenon of infringement seems to be forbidden repeatedly, and every once in a while, we can see the entanglement between long and short videos, from the war of words in the field of public opinion to the real knife and gun showdown of the court.

Unlike the long video platform and the active appeal of various stakeholders of film and television companies, the official of the short video platform has been silent on this topic in the public opinion field. Titanium Media APP has also asked the current mainstream short video platform many times about this topic, but they have remained silent.

What stage has the film and television content infringement reached? Why is it so difficult for video platforms to enforce rights? And what is the solution that works in the future?

Titanium Media APP found the legal team responsible for rights protection of a long video platform and chatted with them, trying to understand and reveal the real situation behind the protection of film and television content and intellectual property rights, as well as the pain points and difficulties that are not known to the outside world.

These are far more complex than we think. As practitioners of intellectual property protection in the film and television industry and witnesses of industrial change, these experiences and feelings may provide some new thinking for the subsequent norms and progress of the industry.

At the request of the interviewees, the following is an anonymous account.

Long videos are losing money, and short videos are making a lot of money

Our team is doing rights protection work every day. My rights protection work is more platform-oriented, especially the platform for short videos. My daily work mechanism, for example, our platform today on a drama, we have to search, to see the unauthorized use of these short video platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and B station.

We also run through machines. After running, we sent these links to the short video platform and asked them to delete them. This is a normal link to rights protection, and almost every company does this.

Over the years, our efforts to defend our rights have gradually increased. Since April 2021, all rights holders of long-form videos have paid more and more attention to the protection of film and television content. At the same time, the content of short video platforms has gradually shifted to beauty bloggers, cute pets, etc., and there are fewer and fewer film and television categories.

But it still had a big impact on us. From the beginning of the epidemic last year to the present, the film and television industry has been particularly difficult. Film and television content is very small for a short video platform, and the proportion is very low, but it is fate for us.

Moreover, the short video industry has entered a high-quality development stage, but our long video platforms are still loss-making, from the perspective of industry data, short video advertising revenue, average daily traffic of the crowd, etc., has surpassed the long video platform.

A few years ago, there was a big drama on our platform, and the piracy method of that year was still based on long content, and everyone watched the content of the entire episode on a small website or online disk. Now, in the "short flat fast" mode, everyone relies more on the viewing mode of short videos.

We have a few parent video platforms have counted together, pirated key works, there are more than 2,000, generally our S+ or S-level works, and some of the more popular works.

The number of infringing short videos is more than 1 million. Compared with those pirated small websites before, the proportion of short video infringing content has reached 65%, which can be said to be the infringement status of the gate category.

Now in the media or society, it is considered that the controversy is the "two innovation" short video, but in fact, the real "two innovation" short video, in the entire short video data market, may only account for 5%, or even less.

Those cuts and compilations etc, really annoy us. All the essence of a drama is cut into a short video compilation form and spread on the short video platform, and the number of fans of the number owner is quite large.

The content of comedy variety shows, everyone is on the short video platform, you read its baggage, you will not come to our platform to watch. And reality TV variety shows, after the performance of whoever is over, you may not go to watch the whole episode, and these short video platforms are free to watch.

This kind of content satisfies people's voyeurism and some social needs of the series. After watching it in three or five minutes, you don't have to go to the episode specifically, and you have to chat with friends, and you don't have to spend a lot of time to see its plot direction, how to polish the service and so on.

Many people feel that this can fill the fragmented time gap and save time. But this is a big blow to the platform, and content creators. Everyone goes to see the clip, and no one watches the long play.

Those specially designed highlights, or wonderful ambush points, the evolution of the actors' dialogue, how emotional expression is realized. Now some creators have become eager to achieve results, and it is difficult to elaborate, or sink down, to create a better long video.

There are also some examples that make us eat "dumb losses". For example, before Tencent Video, iQiyi and Youku jointly issued a paper to resist the piracy of "Friends", it was because the versions obtained by these three companies were all versions reviewed by the competent authorities, and indeed some shots were cut. However, on other platforms, users upload, instead, without any review.

Many people will feel that I spend money on these three major platforms, watching is still a clip off, not the full version, I am on other platforms, I can also watch the full version without spending money. We have suffered losses and grievances, and we are really facing great pressure and challenges.

The pain of rights protection in film and television works: the cost of evidence collection is high, and the actual compensation is low

At present, there are too many such cut-off infringements. Every time we put on a new piece of content, we have to ask these platforms to deal with it, and when it is processed offline, my content popularity has also been broadcast, which is really harmful to us.

Sometimes, I also contact some film and television editing bloggers in private messages, telling him that the videos are infringing without my consent. But every time they speak well and persuade each other bitterly, they give a reply, which is very sad. Many people have also come to scold you, making you very chilled.

Respecting copyright and respecting originality also requires the awareness of these bloggers themselves. Sometimes, some short video platforms are well managed, but these bloggers still have how to cut and how to send as usual. It is a process of treating the symptoms rather than the root causes.

After the continuous appeal of the industry, the news has continued to ferment and some changes have also been made. When many creators receive our request, they will be very cooperative, saying, I will delete it immediately or I will deal with it immediately, there is this trend of improvement.

But why are there so many pain points and difficulties in video content rights protection up to now?

The first is that the cost of rights protection is relatively high, and the pirated videos on these platforms, I need machines to cooperate with labor, one by one screening out. After that, in order to keep some evidence, we usually do notarization.

Now the notary fee is quite expensive, the court sometimes does not recognize the notarized video content is jumping and playing, or dragging the progress bar to play, but hope that you each video, a second uninterrupted playback, in this case, our forensic costs, will rise, higher and higher. Litigation costs are also quite high. Rights holders must bear some invisible costs that are not known to the public, and do things to protect their rights.

Sometimes the amount of infringement is particularly large, I want 7 × 24 hours to collect evidence, notarization, court litigation costs according to your subject matter, 1 million, 5 million, 10 million subjects, litigation claims are different, as well as the cost of lawyer fees.

Now the difficulty of rights protection is also increasing, and it has become difficult to identify. For example, some short video content is actually a certain drama, but the title of the video is not the title of the play, or any related description, it is likely to use a paragraph in the plot as the title.

We go to search for infringing clips, usually through keywords to search, now in this case, we also want to think of various ways to locate the infringing short video, it is really a consumption of manpower, material and financial resources.

Moreover, the benefits of rights protection are very low. There is a main reason here, the production threshold of film and television cuts is very low, and many film and television bloggers have begun to "collect apprentices" and recruit a large number of personnel to produce in batches, which reduces his production costs.

And because of its low production cost, the amount of compensation will be relatively low. The court compensated for the infringement of short videos, a film is about tens of thousands of yuan, and in fact, the cost and commercial losses of our drama cannot be compensated at all.

Sometimes it takes a long time for our cases to get the results. Even if it is judged to lose the lawsuit, the broadcast will be completed, and the commercial losses caused will not be compensated.

Movies and TV series are different, and movies have a window period. Some works have passed the window period, and the impact of re-cutting is not particularly large. Long videos are based on variety shows as a foothold to do long video platforms, it is difficult to rely on movies alone, and some clips of variety shows have been cut out, which is particularly fatal to us.

"Two innovations" is not the promotion that long videos want

Others say they are "secondary creations." Erchuang, in layman's terms, makes some creations on the basis of the original. An article you wrote today is a text type, and it can be said that it is a secondary creation by shooting a video through your text, or by creating a video in the form of explanation.

The essence of the film and television short video is to generate a new work through these film and television works, plus some editing, soundtrack, commentary or emotional reaction.

In a sense, this film and television work has not been authorized by the right holder, but he himself has formed a new short video work on various film and television platforms through his own means of screen recording, interception and other means, and through some of his own editing and other secondary processing methods.

Our official account will also do short video promotion. This kind of publicity has a lot of technical content. We have a special team, responsible for doing some short video promotion, short video material and production, are spent a lot of thought, I hope that more people through watching this short video, to our long video platform to see the full set.

And piracy is not the same as promotion. Some creators say, I cut these short videos to help you promote them. In fact, we didn't authorize him to do this, which is not what we wanted, he just wanted to meet his own needs, put the alternative fragments of the work, put it on the short video platform. I didn't want him to put the content, he let it go, he wanted him to put it, he didn't put it.

These short videos are not authorized by the right holder, I did not say, you can help me make a soundtrack, you can help me make a short video, he just took it and cut it, in a sense, the new works it produces are infringing.

I've taken stock of a lot of videos of the second class. For example, take stock of the roles and performances of an actor who has played all TV series, and there are mixed cuts, and some costume dramas and more funny mixed cuts together. There is also a kind of "Reaction class", which hurts us a lot. Because it didn't do any editing and cutting, it moved to its own video intact.

We have summed up that some "two creation" short videos have only carried out some simple creations, and these simple creations have not paid a lot of their own labor results, and the most important thing is that they are used without our consent.

It is also said that "erchuang" belongs to the "fair use" of the Copyright Law, that is, the creation of other people's works beyond fair use on the basis of handling and editing.

We don't think of these works as secondary works. The second creation must have its own thoughts expressed in it, and form an independent work.

Many people say that they are running for "fair use", thinking that the video content he produces is fair use. China's Copyright Law stipulates that fair use is a situation in which a person other than the copyright owner may use a work without the permission of the copyright owner and without the copyright owner paying remuneration under the conditions prescribed by law.

If the university teacher lectures are used, this is called fair use. If you make a short video, it does not say where the work comes from and affects the normal use of the work, especially if you have substituted for me, or you have harmed my legitimate interests.

You put this video out, to some extent attracted my traffic, attracted a part of my audience away, lost some of my potential user groups, you did not use under the basic framework of these three situations, can not be called fair use. Moreover, many short video citations now do not indicate the source.

Others say that these behaviors of yours limit your creative expression and desire to create. But in fact, what we firmly oppose is the cut- and we give space for the second creation.

Now the short video creation industry has a trend of "bad money expelling good money". A lot of good works are overwhelmed by these cut works. For the creator, the cutting is fast and simple, resulting in a really good second creation, but no one pays attention. We respect copyright law, encourage originality and innovation, and have a reverence for content. You can have 90 seconds of citations, but don't overdo it.

We also found some of the better second creations. For example, some creators will clearly explain the color matching doorway behind the costume of some popular costume dramas, which color is more advanced, etc., these are the things he really spent his own mind on, and has his own thoughts to create and express.

Possible solution: "90 seconds license", or a blanket license

At that time, we had a drama, which also played very well, we took a cut note, uploaded it on one of the short video platforms, and the result could not be passed, showing that due to copyright reasons, the video was not passed. In a sense, it can be proved that these platforms can be controlled before doing things, and if they can be controlled in advance, we can form a benign interaction and cycle.

Some people say that the short video side said that it has always wanted to buy copyright, but long videos do not sell. In fact, no, the short video platform is very clear that it does not have the right to cut the strip, and we ourselves are taking the Motion Picture Association of America as an example.

We talked about film licensing before the "Big Six" in the United States, we talked about the film copyright for the new year every year, we were going to spend money to buy it, and the other party's request was, before talking about this, you have to make sure that the content I authorized this time is not infringed on your platform, and I signed with you. International is such a game, we must first look at the effectiveness and determination of its governance, and then we have to negotiate.

When we are doing the beautiful construction of a river belt, you must clean up its stasis and wastewater in order to establish a sightseeing belt, you can not always build a sightseeing belt next to a sewage river, you must first treat it.

We haven't mentioned authorization yet because the time has not yet come. Because the short video platform has not shown the determination to govern, now that the authorization is discussed, we simply cannot control the future direction, so we must first see the platform's initiatives in governance and achievements.

Now the short video platform side, for the copyright purchase, there are also some verbal expressions, but the problem is that every time is just lip service, did not really talk to you to buy, or made up their minds to enter this battlefield.

Now many big creators can definitely find the link of authorization. Can some ordinary users find it? Now there are hundreds of millions of short video users, we copyright party is only one, we can not be all completed docking, the future way, should be platform to platform, to get a package of authorization.

Now the copyright rectification has been much better, many pirated movies of small and medium-sized websites, including those in Southeast Asia gambling or pornography portals, its servers are in the United States, or offshore island bases, is also a difficult point of the problem, it is difficult to cure.

But the problem is that now users are no longer in small and medium-sized websites to see piracy, its picture is very unclear, it is easy to be in the virus, there are a lot of yellow pictures, you look at the senses are not good, many people will not go, this is not a focus and pain point to manage the rights protection.

You go to the major platforms to search for "film and television disciples", there will be a lot of accounts, they belong to film and television self-media, or some cultural companies, the main purpose is to expand its individual number, the number of likes or the number of fans, in order to teach you a variety of film and television drama editing strips, to achieve its interests and expenditures. Such a situation of receiving apprentices is very common, which is a great harm to the film and television industry.

You are all very concerned about whether there is a solution to short video infringement, or where it goes. Our long video platform has always stressed that we are not to provoke a war between long and short videos, we hope to regulate the use of these infringements, cuts, compilations, etc. through short video platforms.

First, authorize and then use. Bloggers you want to use this video footage, at least with my consent, you use my stuff, to let me know. Second, I allow you to use it, but I do not allow you to abuse it without any treatment.

We come up with a "90 seconds" concept. When you make a video reference to my original work, don't go more than 90 seconds, which is also a concession for the long video platform. Because before, you can't use 0 seconds, we are now willing to open to 90 seconds, hoping that more real "two creation" works can be produced.

As we all know, the governance of the short video industry is certainly not something that a company can promote, and it requires platform parties, short video platform parties, various associations, judicial organs, administrative organs, etc., to work together to govern the short video industry clearly.

For example, whether the judicial organs can carry out judicial innovation, and whether the administrative organs, the National Copyright Administration, can manage the cuts of film and television works like music, and the China Online Audiovisual Service Association has issued rules to guide the entire industry. The improvement of copyright awareness among platform parties, creators, and copyright requires all aspects of society to work together to do so.

We hope that this industry can form a benign interaction, symbiosis and win-win situation, not now everyone says every day, long video in the short video platform, etc., the real purpose is not so.

China's copyright protection or intellectual property protection, we are watching it get better and better, but also willing to work for the eventual establishment of a more perfect copyright protection ecology, for it.

(This article was first published on titanium media APP, author | Li Chengcheng)