Research On Copyright Infringement Disputes Between Fan Works And Original Works

Fan works is the works that use the same or similar titles,characters,and storyline of the original works for re-creation.The disputes over the infringement of the copyright of the original works by the fan works usually occurs when the author of the fan works using the elements of the work for re-creation without the permission of the copyright owner of the original works.The development of digital technology has increased the spread of fan works in the field of literature.With the rapid development of the fan works and the enhancement of the copyright awareness of the copyright owners of the original works,the number of copyright infringement disputes between the fan works and the original works also increases.This paper takes the research on copyright infringement disputes between fan works and original works as the topic of the dissertation for the master of law,by trying to analyses the reason of copyright infringement disputes between fan works and original works,analyses the judicial practice of dealing with copyright infringement disputes between fan works and original works.On the basis of investigating the legislative and judicial practice of typical countries in dealing with the copyright infringement disputes between fan works and original works,this paper puts forward suggestions on perfecting the system of copyright law,in order to reasonably and legally solve the copyright infringement of original works by fan works.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper is mainly composed of four parts:The first part is the reasons analysis of the copyright dispute between the fan work and the original works.There are various reasons for the copyright disputes between the fan works and the original work.In conclusion,the fundamental reason is the correlation between fan works and the original work.The legal reason is the copyright uncertainty of the elements of the original work.The subjective reason is the enhancement of the right consciousness of the original works owners.The second part is the judicial practice of our country to deal with the copyright infringement disputes between the fan works and the original works.In the cases of copyright infringement disputes between the fan works and the original works,the disputes between the plaintiff and the defendant mainly focus on the following three aspects: first,whether the elements of the works belong to the thought or expression;second,whether the elements of the works are protected by the anti-unfair competition law;third,whether the story plots constitute substantial similarity.The court mainly adopts the "dichotomy of thought and expression" to deal with the focus of the dispute.It applies article 2 or article 6 of the anti-unfair competition law to deal with the focus of the dispute.Through the consideration of judicial practice,it is found that there are some inadequacies in the identification of role image copyright and the forms of the defendant’s tort liability in the copyright infringement disputes between the fan works and the original works.The third part is the investigation on the legislation and judicial practice of typical countries in dealing with the copyright infringement disputes between the fan works and the original works.This paper makes an investigation on the relevant legislation and judicial practice in the United States,Britain and Canada and France of the Anglo-American law system,and in the Germany,Japan and Brazil of the continental law system.And summarizing the differences between the Anglo-American law system and the continental law system and the reasons for the differences,so as to provide some enlightenment for China to improve the system of copyright law.The fourth part is the suggestions of perfecting the copyright law system in China.In order to solve the dispute of copyright infringement between fan works and original works legally and reasonably,we should perfect the system of copyright law.For this reason,it is suggested to add in the copyright law: first,protecting the copyright of symbolic elements;second,adding the parody to the specific situation of the fair use;third,adopting a form of liability other than cessation of infringement.