The Protection Of Works Of Applied Art Under Copyright Law

Works of applied art is the concept of copyright object with both practicability and artistry,which first became the object of protection in Berne Convention in 1948.Driven by the Convention,the member states also protected works of applied art in their own countries,but adopted different legislative methods,and the courts of each state also summarized different protection solutions.Among them,France stands for the unified theory of art and adopts the unified identification standard for all copyright objects including works of applied art;England pays more attention to the recognition of the artistry of works of applied art,but the judicial standard is not certain.America establishes the doctrine of artistic separability,but the criterion of separability is rather complicated.Although China is also a member state of Berne Convention,our Copyright Law has not yet provided protection for works of applied art.The courts mostly identified works of applied art as works of fine art for protection.However,there are many problems with different judgment standard and different trial results.This paper suggests that the legislation and judicial protection of works of applied art should be accelerated.After the analysis of overseas theory and practice,China shall take works of applied art as an independent object under Copyright Law,and define various concepts of works of applied art clearly,unify the adjudication rules in judicial practice,excluding those articles which are not practical and artistic or which artistic feature is the only limited expression of function.In this case,the copyright protection of works of applied art in China can be compatible with international standards and match the protection needs of domestic works of applied art which is gradually growing.