Study On Merchandising Right

Merchandising right is a new type of right in modern economic life which appeared formally in Disney Corporation's authorization activities for its' cartoon characters in 1930s, and later developed greatly in the commercial area. However, it is not until 1950s that we began to study this law. There have been some related cases in America, Britain, Japan and other foreign countries, such as the case of Midler and the case of Mrs Sazae. In theory, American Court has established the principle of distinct delineation and the principle of story telling. There are still some related concepts and principles in other countries. Meanwhile, World Intellectual Property Organization has portrayed the merchandising right of characters in its research report. Our scholars haven't paid enough attention to this right. However, the study on this right is still at the initial stage whether in China or abroad, and the related discussions are so insufficient that students haven't agreed on some basic theoretical issues. With the development of the economic society, the jurisprudential circle will discuss the merchandising right more and more deeply.In the first chapter, this article begins with the origin of merchandising right, analyzes the concept of merchandising right advanced by World Intellectual Property Organization and other students, and reaches the author's own conclusion. Then, this article performs a further analysis of the property of merchandising right at three levels, and points out that the property of merchandising right is a kind of intangible property right that is different from intellectual property. Besides, the article conducted a study on the subject, object and content of legal interrelation of merchandising right. The second chapter of this article makes a comparison between merchandising right and copy right, trademark right and personality right, and then points out the distinctions between merchandising right and these rights. The final part of this thesis discusses the legal protection for the merchandising right, analyzing the present situation and deficiencies in the legal protection of the copyright law, the trademark law, the law of personality and the anti-unfair competition law. According to the above discussion, it proposes two kinds of protective modes. The present protective mode is to perfect every department law. Constructing the system of merchandising right is the future mode, including the suggestions about the basic legal problems, the limitations of merchandising right, the registration system, the terms of protection, the coexistence of rights and the legal liability.