"I've never heard that my infringement is still so righteous!" A few days ago, Zhou Munan, the author of the novel "Juvenile Song Xing", publicly cracked down on the fake "Juvenile Song Xing 2" film and television drama through his personal social account, saying that he held a press conference with the IP of Juvenile Song Xing for infringement.
Who is the real "Youth Song Xing 2"?
Copyright disputes differ
In 2018, Zhou Munan's original fantasy martial arts novel "Juvenile Song Xing" was adapted into the animated series "Juvenile Song Xing", which was a bumper harvest of popularity and word-of-mouth, and the animated series "Juvenile Song Xing" was produced by China Film every year. In 2022, the live-action series "Youth Song Xing" will be broadcast, produced by Youku, jointly produced by Impossible World, Shengge Film and Television, and China Film every year, starring Li Hongyi, Liu Xueyi and others, which is also a double harvest of popularity and word-of-mouth.
On December 26, Youku and Zhou Munan jointly announced the live-action drama series of Juvenile Song Xing 2 through Weibo, titled "Juvenile Song Xing: Nanming Lihuo". Now the text version of the novel Zhou Munan is still being created, and only the prologue of "Juvenile Song Xing: Nanming Lihuo Chapter" has been released. An IP with a very good reputation has a sequel, and book fans and drama fans are very happy. But on December 27, China Film Nian Nian and Nian Nian Drama Production held a press conference, officially announcing the online drama "Youth Song Xing 2" and three online movies of Youth Song Xing IP, and said that it had entered the preparatory stage.
The author Zhou Munan was shocked by the press conference of the drama production every year, and issued a solemn statement on the 28th, saying that "some false propaganda of film and television drama Youth Song Xing 2 has appeared on the Internet, and there have even been serious violations of the legitimate rights and interests of myself and the copyright owner of the drama series, such as holding a landing film and television conference in the name of IP." Zhou Munan stated that the only authorized party of the orthodox chapter "Youth Song Xing: Nanming Lihuo" is Morning Star Shengshi (impossible world pictures), and the only platform partner is Youku, which has been officially announced on December 26. Other gimmicks with Juvenile Song Xing 2 include but are not limited to pictures, videos, texts and other forms of content, which have nothing to do with it. Any recruitment of actors, preparations and other related acts in the name of the so-called "Juvenile Song Xing 2" IP, if it involves infringement, will be strongly condemned and resisted.
How can there be two "Juvenile Song Xing 2"? How can another one be faked by the author? Who is making the real "Juvenile Song Xing 2"? On December 29, Nian Nian Drama Film Industry issued a solemn statement, saying, "The filming and production of the "Juvenile Song Xing" series of film and television dramas is legally authorized by China Film Nian Nian (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., the rights holder of the novel "Juvenile Song Xing". And make the relevant power of attorney public. China Film also issued a solemn statement every year, saying that China Film is the only legal owner of the adaptation rights, filming rights and other rights of "Youth Song Xing" every year, and the series of film and television dramas is a legitimate exercise of legitimate rights and interests within the validity period.
On December 30, Zhou Munan responded: "I have never heard that buying the copyright of a novel is equivalent to buying the author's future writings together." Zhou Munan disclosed the planning book of "Youth Song Xing 2" that he received from his peers and friends from Nian Nian Drama Production. The previous live-action web dramas, animations, and novels of "Youth Song Xing" in the planning book are all used as the highlights of IP promotion, and a synopsis of the story is also given. But in fact, Zhou Munan, the novel of "Youth Song Xing 2", only wrote a prologue, and the synopsis of the story is impossible to say. "After reading the synopsis, my jaw dropped, it turned out that they didn't want to shoot "Nanming Lihuo" without authorization, but to make up a "Youth Song Xing 2" by themselves. I was even more shocked, I didn't expect this operation!" Zhou Munan defined China Film's "Youth Song Xing 2" as "writing a 2 by yourself, looking for some actors again, and looking for another director, a pure infringing copycat version." ”
Regarding this dispute, Zhou Munan said that he would focus on the creation of the new year, and the next matter would be handed over to the official to deal with.
Is it a "play on words"?
Lawyer's interpretation: Whether there is infringement depends on whether there is confusion
According to the information in the authorization letter published by Nian Nian Drama Production, in 2016, Zhou Munan authorized the use and sub-authorization of Beijing Morningstar Shengshi Network's "Juvenile Song Xing", and in 2017, Morningstar Shengshi authorized the copyright of "Juvenile Song Xing" to China Film for use every year, which is valid until 2025, and it is stated in the authorization letter that China Film has the right to independently decide whether the names of various works and products adapted from it are the same as the authorized works, that is, according to "Juvenile Song Xing" In the adapted film and television works, the film can decide what name to choose for itself, which can be the same name as the original book or different. In May 2023, China Film will authorize "Youth Song Xing" to Beijing Nian Nian Drama Production, and the scope of authorization indicates that the film and television works filmed and produced by Nian Nian Drama specifically refer to one live-action TV/online series and three live-action online movies, which is in line with the IP adaptation plan of a live-action web series and three online movies revealed at the press conference.
From the perspective of the authorization chain, the authorization of the novel "Juvenile Song Xing" has not expired, and China Film can of course do film and television adaptations every year, or you can decide the name of the adaptation by yourself, and it seems that there is no problem with calling it "Juvenile Song Xing 2". But the problem is that this "Juvenile Song Xing 2" is not the other "Juvenile Song Xing 2", one is an adaptation and sequel of the first novel of "Juvenile Song Xing" by the authorized company, and the other is an adaptation of the second novel of "Juvenile Song Xing" that has not yet been written by the original author, no wonder there will be a fight between the two "Juvenile Song Xing 2". Zhou Munan angrily said to China Film's statement every year, "Do you dare to say that you have the copyright of "Youth Song Xing 2"? ”
"Youth Song Xing" has a very good reputation, it is indeed a high-quality IP, and it has accumulated quite a lot of fans because of its excellent reputation. "From the perspective of copyright, the novel "Juvenile Song Xing 1" and the novel "Juvenile Song Xing 2" belong to two independent works, each with its own copyright. Zhao Liangshan, a senior partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm and a well-known public interest lawyer, believes that Article 10 of the Copyright Law clearly stipulates that copyright includes a series of rights such as the right of publication, the right of authorship, the right of modification and the right of adaptation. Make an adaptation. Even if the work has been adapted, it must not infringe the author's original copyright. According to Article 13 of the Copyright Law, "the copyright of a work produced by adapting, translating, annotating or arranging an existing work shall be enjoyed by the person who adapted, translated, annotated or arranged, provided that the copyright of the original work shall not be infringed when exercising the copyright." From this perspective, Zhao Liangshan believes that if "Youth Song Xing 1" is adapted and promoted in the name of "Youth Song Xing 2", which infringes the copyright of "Youth Song Xing 2", the original author and the licensor Youku can still claim infringement. And whether the two may cause confusion to the audience depends on the publicity, "If the film and television work adapted from the novel "Youth Song Xing 1" is called "Youth Song Xing 2" and it is not clarified that this is based on the first novel and not the second novel when promoting, there is a suspicion of rubbing the fame of the IP." ”
I am afraid that this problem is also a problem that big IP is easy to encounter in the adaptation of film and television comics, such as the big movie "Family with Children" officially announced some time ago, in fact, it has nothing to do with the TV series "Family with Children" that we are familiar with, but the confusion is extremely high for the audience, and it is easy to be fooled by the IP. In this regard, some netizens suggested that Zhou Munan use legal means to protect the IP of "Juvenile Song Xing", and a large number of adaptations that are not related to the original work are not helpful to the IP itself.
Yangtze Evening News|Purple Cow News reporter Shen Zhao
Proofread by Xu Heng