Study On The Conditions Of Protecting Applied Art Work By Copyright Law

The structure of this article consists of three parts as follows:preface, main body and conclusion.In the preface, under the background that works of applied art has been formulated as a kind of works in the modification of Copyright Law, the opinion that if applied art work can be considered as works of applied art and be protected by Copyright Law, it has to accord with the condition of being works. This condition is that there is expression on the applied art work and the expression has certain originality. The question that how to identify the expression and the level of the expression are the problems about the condition of using Copyright Law to protect applied art work.The main body contains the following four chapters:Chapter1raises the question faced by the protection of applied art work with Copyright Law. This chapter firstly introduces the difference between applied art work and works of applied art and the importance of the protection of applied art work with Copyright Law. And then this chapter introduces the situation of legislation and judicature about the protection of applied art work with Copyright Law in China. This chapter raises the question that how applied art work can be protected by Copyright Law.Chapter2answers the question from the view of theory. This chapter firstly discusses the two keys of using Copyright Law to protect applied art work-the expression and the level of originality to pave for the following from the view of theory. And then according to the theory of the expression and the level of originality and the feature of works of applied art, this chapter raises the two factors about how applied art work can be protected by Copyright Law. One is that expression exists, and the other is that the level of originality should be consistent with fine arts.Chapter3introduces the discussions and four cases which are representative about using Japanese Copyright Law to protect the product of applied art in Japan, and mainly introduces the identification of the product of applied art and the condition of using Japanese Copyright Law to protect the product of applied art. And then the cases are analyzedChapter4discusses the settlement of the question about the protection of applied art work with Copyright Law. This chapter firstly discusses the feasibility of the experience in Japan. And then summarizes the experience of Japan and the enlightenment to China. The enlightenment is consistent with the conclusion of Chapter2. So from both views of theory and the experience of Japan, the condition of using Copyright Law to protect applied art work contains the following two factors:1.expression exists;2.the level of originality should be consistent with fine arts.The conclusion sums up the viewpoint of this article, and raises the questions mentioned in this article which are not the emphases of this article but need further research about Copyright Law.