A Study Of The Protected Range Of Musical Works

In the long history of the development of the copyright system,musical works can be considered as rising stars.Although the first time when musical works received legal protection lagged behind other works,it doesn't obstruct the musical works from becoming one of the most important work genres in the present.How to protect the relevant content of musical works and curb infringement have been drawing a lot of attention.The existence of legal right is the precondition for confirming infringement and corresponding remedy,and one can only claim copyright protection for their original content.Therefore,the judge needs to accurately judge what content of the plaintiff's music falls within the legal protection of the "musical work" when determining the infringement.However,with specific provisions' absence in the legislation,it can be found in practice that the scope of protection of musical works has not been clarified.The recognition that musical works are equal to melodies is so widespread that many of the achievements of rewriting musical works cannot be protected by law,and there have been many infringement lawsuits in which the original expressions of rights holders have not been fully affirmed.It's necessary for legislation and judiciary to confirm the protected range of musical works.This article mainly discusses three issues.The first chapter deconstructs the musical work,and points out that the confirmation of musical works' expression should start from the musical elements.The musical elements which can add to the originality of musical works are not limited to melody.Although some non-melodyelements are more subject to musical composition rules than melody,there still remains room for them to participate in the original expression of the musical works.The modern music field is attaching more importance to the non-melody elements,so simply protecting the melody does no good to promote the innovation of musical works,nor does it comply with the systematic interpretation of the copyright law.The second chapter,based on the analysis of musical elements in the first chapter,demonstrates that those who involved in music creation but not being songwriters may also claim their own legal rights to the musical work if their creations constitute adaptation.The Chinese term "Bianqu" has different meanings in the legal and musical fields.The rewriting of musical works under the name of "Bianqu" may not necessarily be of the same nature,nor may it all reach the height of adaptation.Whether or not the rewriting of musical works has originality still depends on case judgments,and case judgments cannot be done without the analysis of musical elements.In addition,there is no need to establish an "arranger's right" in the neighboring rights.In order to emphasize that the musical works are not equivalent to melodies,it can be specified in the relevant rules that the musical works include the musical composition and the arrangements of the composition,and the arrangements include but not limited to the adaptation of the melody.The third chapter discusses the methods that should be used to confirm the protected range of musical works in judicial practice.It is proposed that principle of total concept and feel should be the main method with the reductionism being used as the supplement,and the principle of total concept and feel is supposed to be applied preferentially,ensuring that the originality embodied in different parts and the whole of the musical work can both be considered.Moreover,in order to make the above results more objective and fair,the two cognitive styles of musical score contrast and auditory contrast should be used together,considering musical works are expressed in terms of sound.In this way,the protected range of musical works will not be expanded or narrowed too much.