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Popular reality show dragged into copyright mud
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The Voice of China is a Chinese reality talent show on the Zhejiang Satellite TV, who paid premium for the imported operational mode. Although the program format has been licensed to China, a song "You exist in my song" performed by one contestant Li Daimo took the broadcasting company to deep legal water with the song creator Qu Wanting and UNIVERSAL Music Limited(UNIVERSAL) the company Qu belongs to. UNIVERSAL sent an attorney letter directly to Li Daimo at the official microblog on August 3, claiming Li's singing "You exist in my song" in the Voice of China and an MV has not been authorized by the copyright holder and asking the defendant to immediately stop singing the disputed song in any form and to discuss the authorization and payment with UNIVERSAL in five days."
"The MV mentioned in the attorney letter has nothing to do with the Voice of China. Singing other's song in the talent show is a TV broadcasting behavior which does not constitute infringement. Therefore, Li's Singing a song in this entertainment program does not infringe the music copyright." said Lu Wei, publicity director of the Voice of China.
Playing cover songs was criticized
The copyright royalty is paid by program organizers when contestants sing cover songs in a talent show. "Over 99% of the songs played in the Voice of China have been paid and other three songs including this disputed song are under discussion," said Lu Wei.
However, the reporter found that the copyright Lu claimed did not include the case of the contestant singing live cover songs. According to Lu Wei, the organizer bought the music copyright from the record companies for commercial operation. According to the measures, all the music works played on TV should be registered on the website of Music Copyright Society of China（MCSC） regularly. MCSC will receive remuneration based on the actual recording time. The annual royalty should be paid by the TV stations.
Zhou Yaping, the vice chairman of the China Audio and Video Association Record Working Committee, did not agree with Lu's opinion. A TV station may broadcast a published work created by another person without permission, but should pay remuneration to the copyright owner. The royalty the broadcasters pay every year to MCSC is used for playing published works. However, the Voice of China made an MV without the authorization of the copyright holder. According to the Copyright Law, a producer of video recordings created by others should obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration. Although the program group has approached to buy the copyright of the song, the price issue is still under discussion. This act constitutes infringement of its statutory rights and should pay double damages.
Copyright awareness should be enhanced
With so many music contest shows on TV, there is an overwhelming urgency to avoid such copyright disputes and enable such type of TV market to develop healthily. Chen Shaofeng, deputy dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, pointed out that China should perfect the system of collective management of copyright and royalty should be paid by broadcasters to MCSC for compensating the copyright owners in the previous time. Moreover, in order to improve TV shows' market, social awareness on copyright protection should be enhanced.
Payment access should be improved
"In the few program groups volunteering to pay the royalty, broadcasters are always to contact with record companies directly rather than connect with MCSC." a representative from MCSC who asked not to be named noted.
With the mistrust of MCSC from both the copyright owners and the users, both sides prefer to close a deal themselves. However, in US and Japan, where copyright protection is more developed, collective management organization could represent the interests of the copyright owners in full capacity. Chen Shaofeng suggested that China should improve the copyright collective management system and lay out specific provisions on copyright royalty distribution to ensure the interests of copyright owners and gain their trust.
"The MV mentioned in the attorney letter has nothing to do with the Voice of China. Singing other's song in the talent show is a TV broadcasting behavior which does not constitute infringement. Therefore, Li's Singing a song in this entertainment program does not infringe the music copyright." said Lu Wei, publicity director of the Voice of China.
Playing cover songs was criticized
The copyright royalty is paid by program organizers when contestants sing cover songs in a talent show. "Over 99% of the songs played in the Voice of China have been paid and other three songs including this disputed song are under discussion," said Lu Wei.
However, the reporter found that the copyright Lu claimed did not include the case of the contestant singing live cover songs. According to Lu Wei, the organizer bought the music copyright from the record companies for commercial operation. According to the measures, all the music works played on TV should be registered on the website of Music Copyright Society of China（MCSC） regularly. MCSC will receive remuneration based on the actual recording time. The annual royalty should be paid by the TV stations.
Zhou Yaping, the vice chairman of the China Audio and Video Association Record Working Committee, did not agree with Lu's opinion. A TV station may broadcast a published work created by another person without permission, but should pay remuneration to the copyright owner. The royalty the broadcasters pay every year to MCSC is used for playing published works. However, the Voice of China made an MV without the authorization of the copyright holder. According to the Copyright Law, a producer of video recordings created by others should obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration. Although the program group has approached to buy the copyright of the song, the price issue is still under discussion. This act constitutes infringement of its statutory rights and should pay double damages.
Copyright awareness should be enhanced
With so many music contest shows on TV, there is an overwhelming urgency to avoid such copyright disputes and enable such type of TV market to develop healthily. Chen Shaofeng, deputy dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, pointed out that China should perfect the system of collective management of copyright and royalty should be paid by broadcasters to MCSC for compensating the copyright owners in the previous time. Moreover, in order to improve TV shows' market, social awareness on copyright protection should be enhanced.
Payment access should be improved
"In the few program groups volunteering to pay the royalty, broadcasters are always to contact with record companies directly rather than connect with MCSC." a representative from MCSC who asked not to be named noted.
With the mistrust of MCSC from both the copyright owners and the users, both sides prefer to close a deal themselves. However, in US and Japan, where copyright protection is more developed, collective management organization could represent the interests of the copyright owners in full capacity. Chen Shaofeng suggested that China should improve the copyright collective management system and lay out specific provisions on copyright royalty distribution to ensure the interests of copyright owners and gain their trust.
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