What are the general provisions of Copyright law on licensing contracts
In addition, the Copyright Law also regulates licensing contracts The main terms and other relevant content have made some special provisions, which are summarized as follows:
1. Contract form
About the contract The Copyright Law does not have any special requirements for the form. Therefore, the parties may use written form, oral form or other forms. However, Article 23 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law" imposes some restrictions, "...the right to use is exclusive and should be in writing, except for works published by newspapers and periodicals."
2. Rights content
The content of the rights addresses the type and nature of the rights that are permitted to be used. This is the most critical clause in the license contract.
The types of rights are generally determined based on the definitions of various rights in the Copyright Law. However, the parties need to be more precise. (Or due to limited understanding of copyright law), the name and content of the rights can also be defined in a way that is mutually agreed upon and consistent with industry practice.
As for the nature of effectiveness, it means that the license agreement gives the licensee The exclusionary power against the use of others, that is, the exclusive nature of the right to use. Distinguish between exclusive use rights and non-exclusive use rights. The exclusive right to use means that the licensee is authorized to use it, and no one else can use it for the same purpose, including the copyright owner (the licensor). In contrast to non-exclusive rights of use, the licensee may not exclude others from use. This means that the copyright owner can also use the work in the same way, and he can also license third parties to use it.
Tongshuo believes that non-exclusive use is obtained with permission The holder of the right may not transfer or license his right to others. There are different opinions on whether the person who has obtained the exclusive right to use the right can sublicense or transfer his right. Article 24 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law" stipulates: "...Unless otherwise agreed in the contract, the licensee must obtain the permission of the copyright owner if he allows a third party to exercise the same right."
3. Time and geographical scope
Time and geographical scope are important factors that further define the scope of the licensed use rights. The law has no special restrictions on this, and it is usually up to the parties toFeel free to agree as needed.
The copyright license period is generally 5 to 10 years More common, permanent license use is less common. In the latter case, the right to use obtained by the licensee will be valid for the remaining protection period of the copyright. If the right to use is exclusive, the effect is not much different from the transfer of rights.
As for the geographical scope of licensed use and the way of using the work There is a close connection, usually with a country as the boundary. However, some rights can often be divided into smaller divisions. For example, performance rights can be limited to a small county, and broadcast rights can be limited to a certain city. However, care should be taken to avoid segmenting the market through this clause and causing harm to free competition. For example, domestic book publishing contracts generally cannot license different publishers to publish the same work based on province boundaries (except for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao).
4. Usage fee
Usage fees are the most important income of the copyright owner, and their standards and payment should be stipulated in the contract The method is clearly specified. Of course, in a few cases, the copyright owner may value non-financial benefits more and may waive royalties or even provide financial subsidies to the licensee, such as paying page fees for publishing academic papers.
The standard of royalties shall be agreed upon by the parties based on market conditions. Payment can be made with reference to the remuneration standards formulated by the National Copyright Administration in conjunction with relevant departments; if the agreement between the parties is unclear, the standards set by the above-mentioned agencies shall apply.
5. Others
Complete The copyright licensing contract also includes many specific contents, such as the title of the work, the identity of the subject, liability for breach of contract, guarantee of tort liability, and the investigation of other people's infringement, etc. Just like the transfer contract, the parties should negotiate on the basis of full consultation. Reach as detailed and fair terms as possible on relevant matters.
6. Interpretation of the contract
The same as the transfer of copyright , in the copyright licensing business, the copyright owner is often a weak party, so the law also provides preferential protection to him. For example, the Copyright Law stipulates that for rights not expressly permitted in the contract, without the consent of the copyright owner, the other party It shall not be exercised. This indicates that if the licensee wants to use the work in a way not expressly mentioned in the contract, it needs re-confirmation from the copyright owner. For example, using the author's work in the form of electronic publication. Since this method is currently absolutely It is still unexpected for most authors, so it is an infringement without the author's permission. Another example is that domestic publishers that have obtained the book publishing rights cannot publish the traditional Chinese version overseas without the author's additional authorization.
The above is the relevant content summarized by the editor, if you have relevant laws If you have questions or other matters that you don’t understand, you can call the online lawyer on the Legal Savior Network for answers. The lawyer’s professional knowledge can help you.
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