Ruling on Copyright For Sports Broadcasts in China

At the end of March 2018 the Beijing IP Court ruled on copyright protection for sports broadcasts shedding some positive light on the matter. In the case of CCTV and its recorded broadcasts of the Brazilian World Cup (2014) CCTV argued that the broadcast was either a cinematographic work or an audiovisual recording (entitled to neighbouring rights protection). The lower court had determined that it was entitled to be considered as an audio-visual recording and had awarded 670,000 RMB in damages.

The Beijing IP Court upholding this decision confirmed that it was an audio-visual recording which is protected over information networks in part because it was stable and fixed on a physical medium giving it copyright protection and increased the damage award to 4,000,000 RMB. However the current copyright legislation prevented the court from defining the substance of such copyright. Moreover since ‘live retransmission’ was not a fact at issue in the case the question remains open whether the broadcaster can exercise this audio-visual protection for live broadcasts. However the Beijing IP court’s move to enhance damages demonstrates the focus on deterring infringers.

With the increasing importance of licensing revenue in China demonstrated by the NBA-Tencent exclusive five year contract for digital content and with China set to host the Winter Olympics in 2022, this decision comes as a ray of hope to Olympic broadcasters and to the development of China’s professional sports. [Source: CHINA IPR]