Copyright licensing is the most basic and important way of dealing in copyright trade. It is a kind of legal action that the copyright owner licenses others with certain conditions (usually paid) to exercise their rights in a certain way and commercially within a certain period and geographical scope. It is the most common and common type of copyright use in the copyright trade.

Features of copyright licensing

The copyright license has the following features:

First, the licensor must be the copyright owner;

Second, the licensed work must be the work protected by relevant laws;

Third, the copyright subject remains unchanged after the licensing, and the party who is licensed to use the copyright only enjoys the licensed right of use, but does not enjoy the rights beyond the scope of the license.

Form of copyright license

Copyright licensing is the most basic and important way of copyright trade, which can be divided into general licensing and collective licensing.

(1) general permission

General license is the most common form of copyright license, including three basic forms:

1. An exclusive license

It means that within the time and geographical scope stipulated in the contract, the copyright owner grants the exclusive right to use the copyright to the importing party, and the copyright owner cannot use the copyright within this scope, let alone grant the copyright to a third party for use.

2. Exclusive license

It means that within the time and scope stipulated in the contract, the copyright owner authorizes the introduction party to use its copyright, and at the same time, he still retains the right to continue to use the copyright in the same scope, but cannot grant the copyright to a third party for use.

3. Ordinary license

It means that within the time and geographical scope stipulated in the contract, the copyright owner authorizes the introduction party to use its copyright, while retaining the right to use the copyright in the same region, and may also grant the copyright to any third party for use.

Collective licensing

When some works are widely and frequently used, copyright owners may have to sign thousands of contracts for the same work, which is difficult to do in practice, so a new form of trade, collective licensing, has emerged in practice. Collective licensing is generally divided into two types:

1. Blanket license

Both the copyright holder and the introducer are in the form of a collective or an organization, with a package of licensing agreements between the two organizations. Through this agreement, the licensor grants the rights to use the copyright to the buyer and receives the corresponding remuneration. Package licenses are very convenient for some frequently used works, and in practice, package licenses account for an increasing proportion.

2. Center for permission

This is a form of trade in the form of organization-to-individual, in which the copyright owner is an organization and the importer is an individual, that is, the copyright owner organization grants the right to use the copyright to the individual and receives the payment. This kind of license is mostly used for performance rights, recording rights, broadcasting rights.

The difference between copyright licensing and copyright transfer

Copyright licensing and copyright transfer, as two main forms of copyright trade, are quite different from each other.

1. Right to transfer

The subject matter of the copyright licensing trade is the right to use the economic rights in the copyright, and the licensee obtains the right to use the economic rights in the copyright, and he has no right to make any disposal of the copyright beyond the scope of the contract. Copyright in the trade process did not occur any transfer, still belongs to the original copyright.

Copyright transfer is different. In copyright transfer trade, the subject matter of trade is part or all of the economic rights in copyright, and the transferee gets the economic rights in copyright. According to the contract, the assignee has become the new owner of the economic right, he has the right to make any disposal of the economic right. The economic rights of copyright are transferred in the course of trade, and the original copyright owner loses the right to dispose of the right within a certain period of time.

2. Nature of the contract

In the copyright licensing trade, the licensor and the licensee sign a licensing contract, and the licensee only obtains the right to use part of the economic rights in the copyright, and he has no right to dispose of this right beyond the scope of the contract. The substance of the license fee paid under this contract is royalty.

In transfer of copyright trade, transfer, and the assignee sales contract is signed to the copyright, the assignee is economic rights of copyright itself, he can within the time limit prescribed by the contract, to the right to make any disposal, their own use or to others, shall be lost to the right of disposition, therefore, also have no right to interfere with the behavior of the assignee. The transfer fee in this contract is the commission payable on the purchase.

3. Infringement of the nature

In the copyright licensing trade, the licensee of general license usually cannot bring a tort action because of the infringement of rights, only the licensee of exclusive license has this qualification, but the cause of action can only be limited to the infringement of license rights.

In copyright transfer trade, any assignee has the right to Sue for infringement of his property rights, and the cause of action is infringement of the property rights of the works.

4. qualification

In the trade of copyright transfer, the transferor loses the right to dispose of some or all of the economic rights of the work at least for a period of time. Therefore, the conditions of copyright transfer are more strict than those of copyright licensing. For example, for copyright transfer contracts, many countries have stipulated that only through the registration of the relevant government departments, can be recognized effective, otherwise, the contract is invalid. Moreover, many countries stipulate that a contract must be in writing, and an oral agreement is considered invalid. Many countries have a deadline for the transfer of copyright. Canadian copyright law, for example, provides that any transfer of copyright rights becomes null and void 25 years after the death of the author. It also provides that from the 35th year after the transfer of copyright, the author or his successor may terminate the copyright transfer contract under certain circumstances.

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