The judge teaches you how to be a person who loves "piers" according to law?

With the hot development of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the mascot of this Winter Olympic Games, the "ice pier", has become the "top stream" of this winter. As a result, some lawbreakers took the opportunity to launch the "pier money", and a number of lawbreakers were administratively punished by the public security organs for reselling the "ice pier" at a high price, illegally making profits, and disrupting the normal purchase order.

At the same time, in order to have an ice pier, the majority of netizens have performed eighteen martial arts. The question is, will the self-made "ice pier" and "snow melting" be infringed upon? As a licensed product for the Winter Olympics, what are its particularities in copyright protection? On February 11, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily invited judges from the Haidian Court in Beijing to give a lecture on the rule of law on the "ice piers."

1. "Ice Pier" and other Olympic mascots Does the mainland have special laws and regulations to protect it?

The Mainland's Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") came into force on April 1, 2002, and were revised in 2018. According to the Regulations, the Olympic symbols include the Olympic five-ring pattern symbol, the Olympic flag, the Olympic motto, the Olympic emblem, the Olympic anthem; the proper names of the Olympic, Olympiad, the Olympic Games and their abbreviations; the names, emblems and logos of the Chinese Olympic Committee; the names, emblems and emblems of the institutions applying to host the Olympic Games in China; the names and abbases of the Olympic Games held in China, the mascots, the anthem, the torch shapes, slogans, Signs such as "name of the host city + year of organization", as well as the name and emblem of its organizational body; other signs related to the Olympic Games held in China as stipulated in the Olympic Charter and the contract of the relevant Olympic host city.

The right holders of the above Olympic symbols are the International Olympic Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the institutions in China that apply to host the Olympic Games, and the organizations that hold the Olympic Games in China. The holder of the right to the Olympic symbols has exclusive rights to the Olympic symbols, and no one may use the Olympic symbols for commercial purposes without the permission of the right holder of the Olympic symbols.

It can be seen that not only the mascots of the Current Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games, "Ice Pier" and "Snow Rongrong", but also the five Olympic rings, the torch shape and the relevant symbols of the Olympic Games to be held in China in the future are protected by the Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols. In addition, the image of the Olympic mascot is also protected by the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Administration of Distinctive Signs and other laws and administrative regulations. Therefore, although the "ice pier" is cute, it is not how you want to use it.

2. "Ice pier" may also be illegal although it is hot!

The "ice pier" is deeply loved by consumers at home and abroad, so some merchants want to catch the "free ride" of the Olympic economy. The use of Olympic symbols such as "ice piers" for commercial purposes constitutes infringement, so what if these Olympic symbols are not directly used as commercial symbols?

According to Article 6 of the Regulations, if the use of elements related to the Olympic Movement to carry out activities is sufficient to cause people to mistakenly believe that there is a sponsorship or other support relationship with the holder of the right to the Olympic symbols, which constitutes an act of unfair competition, it shall be handled in accordance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China.

Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates that business operators shall not carry out the following acts of confusion, causing people to mistakenly believe that they are other people's goods or have specific links with others: (1) unauthorized use of the same or similar marks such as the name, packaging, decoration, etc. of the product that have a certain impact on others; (2) unauthorized use of the name of the enterprise (including abbreviation, trade name, etc.), social organization name (including abbreviation, etc.), name (including pen name, stage name, translated name, etc.) that has a certain influence on others. ;(3) Unauthorized use of the main part of a domain name, website name, web page, etc., which has a certain degree of influence on others; (4) Other acts of confusion that are sufficient to cause people to mistakenly believe that they are other people's goods or have specific connections with others.

It can be seen that if a merchant uses the Olympic logo descriptively in advertising, it is easy for relevant consumers to believe that they have an authorization or sponsorship relationship with the organizer of the Olympic Games, which may constitute unfair competition.

In addition, the first paragraph of Article 8 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates that business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial publicity about the performance, function, quality, sales status, user evaluation, and honors they have won on their goods, so as to deceive or mislead consumers. If a merchant uses the Olympic symbol, etc., to fabricate false facts or unilaterally state the facts, and deceive and mislead consumers, it will also constitute unfair competition.

3. "Ice Pier" is so cute Can you use it as a set of emojis?

The "Ice Pier" is a work of art protected by the Copyright Law, and the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, as the copyright owner, has the right to prohibit others from using the image of the "Ice Pier" without its permission, including the development, dissemination and sale of derivatives related to the work. (My name is Ice Pier, my name is Xue Rongrong, and the judge said we all have copyrights)

So will diy a "ice pier" infringe copyright? According to Article 24 of the Copyright Law, for the purpose of studying, studying or appreciating the use of a work already published by another person, the copyright owner may not be paid remuneration without the permission of the copyright owner, but the name or title of the work shall be specified, and the normal use of the work shall not be affected, and the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner shall have to be reasonably damaged. It can be seen that everyone is eager to ask for "piers" and make their own piers for personal appreciation and use, which is within the scope of fair use stipulated in the Copyright Law and does not constitute infringement. However, it should be noted that if the Olympic images such as "ice piers" and "snow rongrong" are made into memes without the permission of the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, and published and disseminated on the Internet, even if they do not have commercial purposes, they may constitute infringement.

"Ice Pier" is popular, not only because of its cute image, but also reflects the excitement of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the people's enthusiastic participation in ice and snow sports. It is reported that the producers of "ice piers" have begun to increase their efforts to promote product production, and a large wave of "ice piers" is already on the road. Here, consumers are reminded not to buy "ice piers" at high prices from the hands of "scalpers", and merchants should not use their brains to illegally produce pirated "ice piers".

Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhu Jianyong correspondent Qin Jingran