Research On The Protection Of Fictional Characters In Literary Work

With the popularization of Internet in China,Chinese novels especially network novels have been widely welcomed in recent ten years.It not only has a large number of readers at home,but also becomes one of the name cards of Chinese culture output abroad.In recent years,many popular literary works have emerged,including network literature works.While these works are popular,the characters in them will also attract attention and even be loved,and even become "two-dimensional idols" with a large number of fans.A large number of readers will buy licensed goods because they love a character in a literary work,a large number of readers will also seek out fan works because they love the characters in the original.Although fan works will promote the dissemination of the original works,they also have the problem of infringing the copyright of the original works and endangering the physical and mental health of minors due to the obscene and violent descriptions in some fan works.In China’s judicial practice,the adjudication standard on whether fictional characters in written works can be protected by the Copyright Law and under what conditions can be protected by the Copyright Law is not uniform.Moreover,there is no definite norm of copyright law in advance to prevent the problems existing in the field of fan works.Instead,they are cracking down on harmful behavior after it has occurred,such as through Internet regulations.In view of the above problems,the author thinks that we should discuss the protection of fictional characters in written works through copyright law,which is helpful to clarify which characters can be protected by the copyright law and prevent the publication of fan works that endanger the physical and mental health of minors in advance.The first chapter of this paper is an overview of fictional characters in written works.The second chapter discusses the problems existing in the protection of fictional characters in written works by analyzing relevant instructive cases.The third chapter of this paper discusses the cases and adjudication standards of the copyright protection of fictional characters in written works in the United States,Germany and Japan.At the same time,it also analyzes the experience of US companies in copyright protection and fan works regulation,and Japan’s experience in introducing Creative Commons.The fourth chapter of this paper puts forward some suggestions on the protection of the copyright law of fictional characters in written works in China.This paper introduces the concept of fictional characters writing,on the basis of through the analysis of fictional characters writing with high commercial value and artistic value,it is concluded that need legal protection to writing fiction character.Through the analysis of judicial cases in China,it is concluded that there is a problem of inconsistent judicial standards in determining whether fictional characters of written works can be protected by copyright law.And in the field of fan works,there are problems of the creation of fan works is not standardized.By summarizing the standards of protecting fictional characters in written works through copyright law in the field of foreign judicial adjudication,this paper proposes a unified adjudication standard for whether written works can be protected by copyright law.And issued a Guiding cases to clarify that fictional characters of written works constitute a type of "work" under the Copyright Law of 2020,and aiming at the problems existing in the field of fan fiction creation,it is suggested that national copyright protection agencies and novel reading platforms should work together to prevent the publication of fan works that endanger the physical and mental health of minors from the source.It is hoped that we can explore a new way to protect fictional characters of written works through copyright law,standardize the use of fictional characters in written works.