Case 18
The Dispute over the Right of Authorship of the Work “The Legend of Mi Yue”
Trial Docket: (2015) WenLuZhiChuZiDi No. 74 Appeal Docket: (2017) Zhe03MinZhong No. 351
[Headnotes] Where there is no stipulation on the form of signature under the contract, the producers use specific title in the film and television works to reflect the division of labor and scriptwriter’ different role. This practice itself is not prohibited by China’s Copyright Law or other laws.
In collaborative works, different authors’ contributions to the final work can not be calculated according to simple comparison of characters, relations, plots, etc. in different versions of scripts because every author has a complicated influence on the elements of the work.
The work should be the carrier for exercising the right of authorship. Case 18 The Dispute over the Right of Authorship of the Work “The Legend of Mi Yue”Trial Docket: (2015) WenLuZhiChuZiDi No. 74 Appeal Docket: (2017) Zhe03MinZhong No. 351 Poster and trailer of film and television works are produced by the producer for promoting the work which are not the work itself and their objective and function is not to indicate the scriptwriter’s identity.
[Synopsis] Appellant (plaintiff in the original trial): Jiang Shengnan Appellee (defendant in the original trial): Dongyang Municipal Huaer Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd. (Huaer Company), Wang Xiaoping
In August 2012, Huaer Company signed an agreement with Jiang Shengnan, which provided that Jiang would create script for the original TV series. “The Legend of Mi Yue” and revise the script according to the Company’s requirements, that the Company has the right to hire others to make revision and creation based on Jiang’s script if Jiang Shengnan’s revision can not satisfy the requirements, that the order of scriptwriter authorship shall be determined by the Company, and that Jiang Shengnan agreed to be affixing his name as the original scriptwriter in the TV series’ title. During the creation of the script of “The Legend of Mi Yue”, the script submitted by Jiang Shengnan could not meet the requirements of Huaer Company after modification. The company signed a contract with Wang Xiaoping in August 2013 to entrust Wang Xiaoping to make a revision with Jiang Shengnan’s script as the basis. Through the producer’s coordination, most of the script’s contents were changed as follows: Jiang Shengnan created the first draft which was sent to the producer for Wang Xiaoping to revise and create. From October 2013 to October 2014, Wang Xiaoping successively submitted a script for shooting the TV series of “The Legend of Mi Yue”, and made further revision of the script after the series began to be shot. “The Legend of Mi Yue” has a record of “Jiang Shengnan: the original scriptwriter” and “Wang Xiaoping: the chief scriptwriter” on its title, the cover of DVD publication package, brochure’s cover, etc. Jiang Shengnan brought an action in the court on the ground that Huaer Company and Wang Xiaoping infringed upon his right of authorship because the defendants affixed “Wang Xiaoping” as the first and chief scriptwriter of the TV series “The Legend of Mi Yue”on the above-mentioned carriers and other materials, and that Huaer Company failed to show that (it was) “adaptation of Jiang Shengnan’s novel with the same title” and to affix Jiang Shengnan as the scriptwriter. He claimed for a judgment ordering Wang Xiaoping and Huaer Company to immediately stop infringement, make apologies and pay 10,000 Yuan to him as economic losses and reasonable expenses. The Wenzhou Lucheng District People’s Court ruled, after trial, that the two defendants did not infringe upon the plaintiff’s right of authorship because the practices of Huaer Company and Wang Xiaoping in the case did not violate the contractual agreement, and the method of affixing Wang Xiaoping as the “chief scriptwriter” did not derogate Jiang Shengnan’s identity as an original scriptwriter and his contribution to the script. Therefore, the court rendered a judgment on October 24, 2016 to reject Jiang Shengnan’s claims.
Jiang Shengnan refused to accept the judgment of first instance and filed an appeal with the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court, which rendered a judgment on December 12, 2017 that the appeal shall be rejected and the original judgment shall be affirmed.
[Judge’s Comment] This case is a dispute caused by the sequence and method of authorship between two scriptwriters of the hot TV series “The Legend of Mi Yue”. It has attracted wide attention and involves several difficult legal issues related to the right of authorship. The first is whether the producer may affix the title such as “chief scriptwriter” or “original scriptwriter” to TV series works where there is no agreement on the authorship form under the contract. The second is whether the producer’s failure to affix the scriptwriter’s name on the posters and trailers of the TV series infringes upon the plaintiff’s right of authorship. There are no legal provisions on the above issues which have faced with a considerable controversy in judicial practice.
With regard to the first question, the court of first instance ruled that, according to the contract, Huaer Company had the right to hire Wang Xiaoping to make revision and creation based on Jiang Shengnan’s script because Jiang’s work could not meet the Company’s requirements after being revised and to determine the authorship order of the scriptwriters; the court of second instance ruled that the laws does not ban the producer’s practices of affixing special titles such as “the chief scriptwriter” or “the original scriptwriter” to the scriptwriters’ authorship on the TV series works in order to reflect every scriptwriter’s different work and role when there is no agreement in this regard under the contract because every scriptwriter plays different role in the works co-created by two persons, that the producer has the right to do so provided that is it not in violation of good customs and infringes upon on no interests of the State, the public and others, that Huaer Company was no incorrect in its practice of affixing “the chief scriptwriter” to Wang Xiaoping’s authorship and “the original scriptwriter” to Jiang Shengnan’s authorship because Wang Xiaoping played an instructive and overall role while Jiang Shengnan played an original and pioneering role in the process of creating the script of the TV series “The Legend of Mi Yue”, and that such practice did not infringe upon Jiang Shengnan’s right of authorship.
With regard to the second question, both the courts of first and second instance held that the work should be the carrier for exercising the right of authorship according to the provisions of China’s Copyright Law, that Huaer Company’s failure to record that (the series was an) “adaptation of Jiang Shengnan’s novel with the same title” or affix Jiang Shengnan as the scriptwriter on the posters and trailers of the TV series “The Legend of Mi Yue” did not infringe upon Jiang Shengnan’s right of authorship because the posters and trailers were produced for promoting the series whose objective and function are not to indicate the authorship, and that Wang Xiaoping shall not be the subject for the claimed civil liability of the case because his introduction of him as the chief scriptwriter of the series on his weibo was in line with the authorship agreement with Huaer Company.
In addition to filling the relevant legal gap, the judgment of this case establishes some typical and referential adjudicating rules, which can be drawn for the trial of similar cases.
（Translated by Zheng Xiaojun, Yuan Renhui)
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