Research On The Copyright Issue Of User-created Content (UGC)

The innovation of digital technology has brought about an increase in creativity.User-generated content(UGC)is a continuous blowout growth in such a large environment.The Internet report released in 2019 shows that the number of Internet users in 2018 has reached nearly 900 million,and these active online users are all creators or potential creators of user-created content.Various platforms,such as Weibo,WeChat,Zhihu,Douyin,can be seen everywhere users create content.Most users' use of other people's works for secondary creation is neither in line with the twelve situations listed in China's fair use system,nor has they obtained the permission of the right holder,which is often regarded as a suspected copyright infringement.However,due to its non-profit nature and most rights holders have not prosecuted due to the cost of litigation.Therefore,most of the user-generated content has been in an awkward situation that has not been recognized or excluded by the law.This reflects a deeper problem: the imbalance of benefits caused by the weakening of copyright restrictions and the strengthening of copyright expansion.This article uses research methods of literature research,case analysis and comparative analysis.The first chapter defines user-generated content,explains its connotation,distinguishes it from other Internet works,grasps its actual meaning and the attributes that can constitute the work,and then analyzes various stakeholders to clarify the user,and create interests and legal relationships above content.The second chapter explains the challenges brought by user-generated content to copyright law in combination with cases.The rise of user-generated content not only changed the environment that copyright law originally relied on,it may also cause infringement problems and weaken the copyright restriction system.Damage to the interests of users.Whether it is the cross-border of technical measures,the limitation of the reasonable use range or the inefficiency of the licensing system,it will be related to the development trend of user-generated content.The third chapter compares and analyzes the legislation or judicial practice of extra-territorial user-generated content,and provides a reference for the next step of perfecting the copyright law.The forth chapter,in order to balance the interests between the prior works' holders and the users,follow the principle of balance of interests to propose restrictions on technical measures,make suggestions on the scope of reasonable use,and introduce improvements to the licensing system.Suggestions are for implied licensing,borrowing from collective management organizations,and giving play to the role of platforms for autonomy.