Research On Protection Of The Fictional Character Merchandising Right

With the development of the market economy,the avatar of virtual characters came into being.Successful virtual characters not only make the work more attractive,but are often used in merchandising promotions or as a source of other works,and users can gain considerable benefits through secondary commercial development.At present,there are many disputes about the rights and interests of virtual characters.However,China has not yet made independent legislation on the commercialization of virtual characters.In judicial practice,the current copyright law,trademark law and anti-unfair competition law are usually used to administer virtual characters.Cross-protection of commercialization rights.Since the right to commercialization has characteristics different from traditional intellectual property rights and diversified infringements,the above-mentioned model has many controversies injudicial practice.In order to better safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of avatar rights holders,safeguard judicial justice,and promote the stable and sustainable development of the market economy,we need to conduct more in-depth discussions on the protection of avatars.To this end,this paper starts from the basic theory of the commercialization rights of virtual characters,focusing on the historical evolution of commercialization rights,relevant regulations and theories of China and foreign countries,as well as the key issues in the current legislation and practice in China.Finally,two steps are proposed in a targeted manner.The step-by-step protection solution is to benefit the research on the commercialization of virtual characters in China.