On The Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights

The protection of the title of works is argued continuously in the academic circledomestically and it still has no final conclusions. There are scholars who advocate theprotection while the others do not. Among the scholars who approve the protection, theyalso hold different views in the modes of protection. In general, most scholars affirm thatthe title of works should be protect and the suggestions about the protection mainly in thescope of intellectual property protection. In practice, although the protection modes arenot explicitly stipulated, the Copyright Law, Trademark Law and Anti-UnfairCompetition Law have provided certain protection to works’ title. Because of theinefficient protection and the imperfect legal provisions, this thesis aims to explore amode which can provide comprehensive works’ title protection through analyzing thelaws and relevant practices at home and abroad.This thesis contains five parts.Part1, introduction. Through the introduction of the controversy of the movie titlesLost on Journey and Lost in Thailand, the author illustrate that the issue of works’ titleprotection needs in-depth exploration.Part2, introduce the works’ title in detail, includes definition, function, controversialcondition and interests belonging, and also propose that the works’ title should belong tothe author.Part3, analysis of the works’ title protection mode. In the first place, the authoranalyses the current condition of the protection provided by laws and practicedomestically, then he presents the relative provisions in Copyright Law, Trademark Law,and Anti-Unfair Competition Law in countries which protect the works’ title amongwhich he emphasis on the provisions of American, Germany and France.Part4, with the consideration about the condition in home and abroad, the authorexplores and analyzes the works’ title protection mode from the perspective of theory andpractice. Firstly, the Copyright Law protection mode is suitable for resolving the controversial of non-business use of works’ title. Secondly, the Trademark Law protectionmode can provide the protection for newspaper’s and magazine’s titles, and books’ title inpublishing and distributing. While in the other situation, the works’ title can be protectedby the catch-all principle of honesty and credibility. Furthermore, the Anti-UnfairCompetition Law protects the works’ title which generates a “second meaning” and causeor may cause confusion used by non-author people.Part5, conclusion. With the analysis in the former four parts, it reaches a conclusionthat a single law can’t offer a comprehensive protection to works’ title so that theintegrated protection is a requisite. The controversial of works’ title can be divided intotwo parts, the business and non-business uses and they should be protected specifically.The non-business use can be resolved by the right of keeping integrity of a work in theCopyright Law while in the business use, the newspaper’s and magazine’s titles, andbooks’ title in publishing and distributing can apply the trademark registration, the otherworks’ title can be protected by the catch-all principle of honesty and credibility.Moreover, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law can protect the works’ title which generatesa “second meaning” and cause or may cause confusion used by non-author people.