Research On The Identification Rules Of Works Of Applied Art

As the combination of artworks and utilities,works of applied art are qualified with aesthetic value and functional characteristics Applied arts are common seen in our daily life and there are disputes rising upon their copyright.Therefore,it is of vital importance to identify works of applied arts.The absence of the identification of applied arts in the current brings judicial problems in practical cases.For example,sometimes the judgement of the same kind cases would be different.Even though works of applied art have been be explicitly stipulated as an independent genre of work by Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China(the revised draft for review)in June 2014,how to identify them is still unclear.The author chooses the identification of applied arts as the topic of this thesis and try to put forward some practical idea for the formulation of the relative rules in China.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,the paper has another four parts.The first part tells the legal theoretical debate of the works of applied art.The debate mainly discusses such topics as whether the functional part should be separated from the aesthetic value,the threshold for examining artistic value of the applied art works and the various approaches adopted in different countries to determine their artistic value.There are three basic ideas about whether practicality and artistry should be separated: affirmation,negation,and eclecticism.There are high,low,and eclectic requirements in the artistic evaluation of applied art works.There are comprehensive approaches and partial approaches to identify works of applied art.This paper believes that the artistic and functional uses of the works need to be organically integrated,in the meantime relatively separated,consistent with the artistic value which pure art works bear,and adopt the partial identification path method.The second part combs the judicial practice of the identification of applied art works in China.This part is developed based on the three topics mentioned above.It mainly analyzes that how Chinese courts identify them in the trials of copyright infringement over the works of applied art.By doing so,the second part summarizes the basis,mode and problems in the identifying process in Chinese trials which can not reach the clear legislation.The third part has done a research on the four typical countries of the United States,Britain,France and Japan and introduces American standard of separating the practical and artistic qualities of applied art works,the high art evaluation level in Britain,the French art unification theory,and the specific rules for the identification of works in Japanese trial courts.By comparing the merits and demerits of these four countries practices where they apply their existing identification rules,this paper takes reference for the rule formulation over the determination of applied arts in China.The four part presents the construction of the rules for the identification of works of applied art in China.By summarizing the relevant cases in China and comparing the rules in America,Britain,France and Japan,the paper concludes that we can establish a unified system of rules for determining the applied art works.The specific contents are as follows: firstly,detailing the genres can settle down the scope in a certain extant;secondly,the usable and artistic characteristics need to be relatively separated,which is up to the purpose and function of the creation of the artistic part;thirdly,the artistic value should satisfy the requirements of being a pure art work and the “art common value theory” is the art part evaluation standard.