视听作品画面与内容的二分思路

在现行著作权法下,视听作品的著作权保护是否或如何覆盖非连续画面内容,并不十分清楚。实务中,如何看待视听作品所含内容对视听作品独创性和权利归属的影响,也一直存在争议。决策者应当接受画面与内容二分思路指引,消除视听作品著作权规则的模糊性。在二分思路下,视听作品独创性体现在画面制作的三个环节,即过程事件的可视化、连续画面的拍摄和后期制作环节。视听作品著作权保护限于连续画面本身。非画面内容应按照传统作品类型分别予以保护。内容贡献者如果没有参与上述任一画面制作环节,则没有对视听作品的独创性做出贡献,也不影响视听作品的权利归属。二分思路可以很好地解释复杂的网络游戏画面著作权争议,展现了宽广的应用前景。

On the Theoretical Dichotomy of "Images and Non-Image Contents" in Audiovisual Works

Under current copyright law, it is not clear whether or how the copyright protection of an audiovisual work would extend to its non-image contents. In practices, whether non-image contents embedded in an audiovisual work shall affect the determination of its originality and ownership has long been in dispute. Decision makers should insist a theoretical framework of "images and non-image contents" dichotomy so as to eliminate the ambiguity in copyright rules for audiovisual works. Under this dichotomy theory, the originality of an audiovisual work is mainly generated from the following three stages of production, namely, visualization of events to be presented, raw image shooting and post-production. The audiovisual work’s copyright protection should be limited to its successive images per se. Non-image contents, if original enough, could be protected separately as other forms of traditional works. Content contributors, if not having participated in any of the above-mentioned stage of production, should not affect the determination of audiovisual work’s originality and ownership. This dichotomy theory well explains some complicated copyright issues related to online audiovisual games, and shows a wide prospect for further applications.