Congratulations to Dr Yahong Li and her PhD students in Chinese Intellectual Property

Congratulations to Dr Yahong Li who was appointed an expert for the Think Tank of China National Copyright Trading Bases (Yuexiu) on 20 June 2019 and a member of the Expert Committee of Peking University Great Bay Area Intellectual Property Institute on 21 June 2019. Dr Yahong Li was also invited to be a judge of the PhD Forum on Technology and Intellectual Property Law (2019) organized by Peking University on June 22-23​. At this forum, her fourth and second year PhD students, Huang Weijie and Deng Zhaoxia, were awarded second and third prizes respectively for their academic papers:

(1) Huang Weijie: “To Block or to Monetize: A Mechanism to Facilitate Copyright Reallocation." (the second prize) 

Abstract: The rule “to block or to monetize” provides copyright owners with liability-rule protection to gain advertising revenue from infringement, which facilitates efficient copyright reallocation when more and more user-generated contents (UGC) lay in the gray area between infringement and fair use. However, the current rule deprives UGC creators of the bargaining power against copyright owners, which not only stifles UGC creation but also refrains copyright from discovering more efficient exploiters through a dispersed market mechanism. To fulfill the purpose of the liability-rule protection, UGC creators should be permitted to restore the removed UGCs or share advertising revenue through counter-notification. 

(2) Deng Zhaoxia, "Critical Analysis on the Merchandising Rights of Fictional Characters: Chinese and American Perspectives" (the third prize)

Abstract: This paper takes fictional characters as the research objects to explore the connotation of their merchandising right. Through comparative and critical analysis of the phenomenon of “copyrighting trademark” of fictional characters in China and the phenomenon of “trademarking copyright” of fictional characters in America, it concludes that the merchandising right originates from commercialization outside the original works and serves to distinguish the origin or quality of the goods, which should be defined and protected legally as a commercial mark right and interest, belonging to the category of “trademark with certain influence”. Hence exercising this right must follow the general principles of trademark law and cannot hinder the freedom of expression or artistic expression.