TV Program Innovation and Construction of Multi-dimensional Intellectual Property Protection System

Abstract: Because of its high advertising revenue and ratings, TV variety shows have become the highlight of provincial satellite TV and even CCTV. The "If You Are the One" program, which is positioned as a life service program, has become more popular. It has continuously won the weekend variety show ratings and successfully held special shows in North America and Europe. It has become a very influential program in the global Chinese circle and even a case textbook for Harvard classrooms. However, the program was sentenced to stop the "If You Are the One" trademark infringement in 2015, and immediately stopped using the "If You Are the One" column name after the judgment took effect, warning TV media practitioners how to protect the intellectual property rights of TV programs, how to prevent infringement, and whether the program mode is protected A series of issues are in front of us, but unfortunately there is no clear protection approach and plan at present, TV program model innovation and intellectual property protection has become a new topic.

Keywords: TV program mode intellectual property innovation

Traditional media are under siege by the Internet and new media forms of handheld clients. In order to highlight the encirclement of traditional media, provincial satellite TV stations and even CCTV have made great efforts to provide content. They have purchased a treasure book of program production from abroad and have carried out localization and transformation. The "If You Are the One" program, which is positioned as a life service program, has become more popular. It has continuously won the weekend variety show ratings and successfully held special events in North America and Europe, it has become an influential program in the global Chinese community and even a case textbook for Harvard classes. There are also if you are the one and the trademark disputes on the Avenue of Stars. The two same TV program trademark infringement disputes have different rulings. One is to stop the infringement, and the other is to reject the lawsuit. How to build a multi-dimensional protection of intellectual property rights of TV programs is before us.

Jiangsu Satellite TV brand column "if you are the one" trademark infringement case

Jin mou applied for registration of the "if you are the one" trademark in 2009 and approved the registration in September 2010. the approved service items of the trademark are category 45, including the service category of "making friends and matchmaking. January 2010, Jiangsu Satellite TV dating program "if you are the one" launched. In 2013, Jin took Jiangsu Radio and Television Station to court on the grounds of trademark infringement. However, the court of the second instance found that the results were quite different. The court of first instance held that Jiangsu Satellite TV's "if you are the one" belonged to a TV program, and its trademark verification service and Jin's dating agency service did not belong to similar goods or services. The plaintiff Jin's claim was rejected by the court of first instance, and he appealed against the judgment of first instance.
The results of the second instance were dramatically reversed. In December 2015, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled that Jiangsu Satellite TV's "If You Are the One" program, from the perspective of service purpose, content, method, and target, all provided marriage, blind date, and dating. The service is the same service as the service item "dating, matchmaking" approved on the appellant Jin's "If You Are the One" trademark registration certificate, jiangsu Provincial Radio and Television Station was sentenced to immediately stop trademark infringement and immediately stop using the "If You Are the One" column name. This reverse judgment is not uncommon in trademark infringement cases, and the judicial interpretation of the Supreme People's Court only refers to the Classification of Goods and Services published by the Trademark Office. Therefore, in the process of hearing cases, whether specific goods or services constitute the same or similar goods and services has become a matter of opinion in the process of different levels of courts and different judges, it is also understandable to face the numerous and varied goods and services in human life. However, CCTV won the "Avenue of Stars" trademark infringement case in the same period and did not identify the infringement. The reason is that the trademark approved service category and the TV program itself do not constitute the same or similar commodity services. At present, the "if you are the one" case has been filed for retrial, and the result should not be difficult to judge.
This kind of case gives us enlightenment, let us reflect on how TV programs avoid infringing on the rights of others, and how to obtain the multi-dimensional protection of intellectual property rights. This subject is rarely discussed systematically.

Classification and Analysis of Intellectual Property Rights Involving TV Programs

Looking at the relevant documents of the court, at present, only the Beijing Higher People's court has answered the normative documents concerning the legal issues of TV programs. On April 8, 2015, the Beijing Higher People's court made the answer to several questions concerning the trial of copyright disputes involving variety shows, which opened a corner of the intellectual property issues involved in TV programs, that is, from the perspective of variety show images, According to the originality of the image, can be identified as works or video products created in a manner similar to cinematography, respectively.
This document answers the special questions of TV programs and interprets them according to the existing legal provisions, which is a very useful exploration and is conducive to the people's court to make rational judgment when encountering the same dispute. But the shortcomings are also obvious. The solution avoids more complex problems and only analyzes the final image of the TV program. The intellectual property issues involved in the production process of TV programs can be described as complex. At present, there is a lack of analysis of the intellectual property issues involved in the whole process of TV program production. The analysis of the creation of these issues is also the prerequisite for us to build multi-dimensional intellectual property protection. How to effectively establish a strong intellectual property protection system is also a powerful guarantee for promoting the development of cultural industries.
Because the author has been serving the satellite TV media for many years, this paper will analyze how to build a multi-dimensional intellectual property protection system from the perspective of the workflow of the TV program group.

Professional intellectual property search and legal analysis should be carried out before the (I) determines the name and logo of the program to avoid copyright and trademark infringement.

At present, any column has a column name that is different from other programs, such as the star reality show "Running Brothers", "Extreme Challenge", the "Four Big Names" to solve the troubles of daily life, and the history education category "Hello History" "," I am Sir "," The Voice of China "," Avenue of Stars ", etc.
Before determining the name of such columns, it is necessary to submit the alternative column name to a professional intellectual property lawyer or intermediary agency to search the relevant trademark rights and copyrights registered and filed by the Trademark Office and the Press and Publication Office. Once the conflict of rights is found, the scheme should be changed immediately, so as not to be forced to change its name after generating huge program influence. Just like the helpless move of changing the name of "If You Are the One" to "If You Are the One", although Jiangsu Satellite TV is already unwilling to change its name like this, from a legal point of view, if the effective judgment determines that the trademark rights of "If You Are the One" are infringed, the name of "If You Are the One" completely includes the part of the "If You Are the One" text trademark, and it is still hard to escape the infringement, this also shows the importance of intellectual property search and legal analysis before column name confirmation.
Of course, names like "The Voice of China" are prohibited from registration by trademark law because they contain Chinese characters, so there is no need to consider searching for prior trademark rights, but if we analyze further, we can find other potential intellectual property risks. Does the "V" gesture with a microphone in this column have prior art works or trademark rights? Or is it preemptively registered? What does this tell us?
Do you want to apply for copyright or trademark registration for identifying words or patterns or even sounds such as column names, logos, and unique elements? Perhaps the TV program team thinks that we are just concentrating on TV programs. Is it beneficial to do these things that are superfluous? In fact, it is not the case. On the one hand, we have obtained an intellectual property right to protect our rights and interests from infringement and prevent the trouble of "if you are the one"; on the other hand, intellectual property rights are valuable, and under the development situation of the cultural industry, you can authorize permission or invest in shares; on the other hand, consider the categories of goods or services covered by the program, which can increase with the spread and influence of the program, and enter the development of derivative products (such as Disney animation to Disneyland), to prevent others from hitchhiking near famous brands, but also to enter other industries to remove obstacles, help the development of cultural industries.

(II) PROTECTION OF PROGRAM MODEL KNOWLEDGE, WHILE AS "PROGRAM BIBLE" IN THE INDUstry

A large number of programs have extremely high recognition because of their special scenes, links, stages, lighting, and interaction. The things that run through the filming process of this program are summarized as program bibles or treasures after the program is mature. Collectively referred to as program mode. The introduction of copyright in the early development of Chinese TV programs is essentially the introduction of program models, not what we think of as video works or products.
Whether the program mode enjoys intellectual property rights and how to protect it is controversial. The reason is that the program mode rights we mentioned seem to be difficult to be reflected in the existing laws as a whole. What does the program model correspond to in the law and what rights do you enjoy.
In particular, the traditional intellectual property theory, which is limited to the dichotomy of "thought-expression", many people think that the program mode belongs to the category of thought, not expression. For example, the aforementioned answer from the Beijing High Court mentioned, "The variety show model is a synthesis of various elements such as variety show creativity, process, rules, technical regulations, and hosting style. The variety show model is ideological and is not protected by the Copyright Law. Variety show text scripts, stage designs, music, etc. that constitute works can be protected by the Copyright Law." This answer breaks down the complete model into various elements, looks at whether a certain element constitutes a work separately, and gives corresponding protection in copyright law, but does not answer whether the model itself is protected.
The author thinks that a program production bible covers all links of the whole program, such as scene construction, location shooting, guest arrangement, host interaction, link conversion, etc. At this time, the production bible has formed a fixed program mode for the program, and the formation of this mode is the result of the joint action of all elements. If any part is taken out alone, it is difficult to see the essence of the program. The overall influence of its interaction makes the audience have unique cognition and feeling, thus creating recognition for the program. The program mode that becomes the production of the bible has been separated from the dimension of thought or creativity, and has been refined into specific expressions. The production of the bible allows people in the industry to implement and produce corresponding TV programs immediately. From the perspective of film and television works, this mode is similar to the script, but the difference is that the script is more deductive works adapted from the original works, while the program mode belongs to the original works, the program mode embodies the creative labor, which should be protected by the copyright law.

Analysis and Protection of Trade Secrets in (III) Program Mode

Before the program mode is made into film and television works, the relevant content of the program is not public. Only the production team of the program group knows the relevant content, and the relevant content will be made public with the promotion and official broadcast, thus losing the confidentiality. But before the disclosure, it still conforms to the characteristics of trade secrets, for all parties to contact trade secrets should sign a confidentiality agreement, clear the scope of confidentiality and confidentiality period.
In addition, there will also be production techniques that do not affect the content in the program mode. Such techniques can also constitute trade secrets, and such secrets will not be lost due to publicity or public broadcasting. Such trade secrets should be put forward separately from the model and confirm the confidentiality point, and sign the relevant agreement to confirm the trade secrets and assume the obligation of confidentiality with the production and cast members who come into contact with such trade secrets, so as to protect the core intellectual property rights.

(IV) program mode special operation scheme or method can be considered to apply for patent protection.

In the process of program production, some unique methods or schemes are creative and novel, and it may be difficult to protect as trade secrets. You can apply for a patent to disclose the relevant operating methods or technical solutions, so as to obtain exclusive patent rights and avoid trade secrets. Leaking caused irreparable damage.

Intellectual Property Protection of Film and Television Works Made by (V) and TV Programs

Before the completion of TV programs, film and television works, the ownership of intellectual property rights should be confirmed, and even the materials that form film and television works in the process of production should also agree on the ownership of rights, so as to avoid disputes over rights in the process of editing film and television works, and ultimately affect the ownership of the program. In the actual operation process, there may be multiple investors in a certain TV program, and even the technical service provider (such as the South Korea production team that is popular in China) may make a claim for ownership under the premise that the ownership of intellectual property is unknown, which affects The final benefit distribution of the program. The ownership of film and television works and production materials should be clearly agreed in advance in the contract to prevent intellectual property disputes in the event of a program explosion.

The construction of the multi-dimensional intellectual property protection system of TV programs should be focused, with one main and multiple auxiliary highlighting its main nature and characteristics while building a strict intellectual property protection system.

From the perspective of film and television works formed by TV programs, it is closer to the copyright law, so its copyright attribute should be highlighted, supplemented by the protection of trademark law, patent law, anti-unfair competition law and other civil and commercial laws, so as to form a strict legal protection system, prevent the occurrence of situations that hinder the healthy development of TV programs, protect and promote the innovation of TV programs themselves, and avoid low-level imitation and repetition, make the most of limited resources.

Introduction to the author:

Lawyer Cheng Shoufa, graduated from Shandong University with a master's degree in civil and commercial law, started practicing in 2002 and is now the deputy director of Zhongcheng Qingtai (Jinan) Law Firm.