What is IP?
"IP" has been popping up as a new buzzword as films and TV dramas based on novels or computer games became blockbusters -- including The Ghouls, adapted from Ghost Blows Out the Light. that enjoyed handsome box office returns; Allstar Heroes from Dota2 that made the top of the mobile game rankings list; and myriads of fantasy dramas crowding the airwaves. All of the sudden "IP", an acronym for Intellectual Property, seems to have become a household word. Actually, this hot word, at least as the media uses it, actually refers to only a certain type of right under the IP system: the copyright.
What is a copyright?
Copyright protects an intellectual creation/work of literature, art or science that is original and can be reproduced in a tangible form. Article 4 of the Implementing Regulations of the Copyright Law and Article 5 of the Copyright Law together define, by pros and cons, the scope and definition of works protected under China's copyright law. These works include verbal, oral, musical, choreographic, artistic and architecture works, among others. To protect the public interest, copyright protections do not apply to legislative, administrative or judicial documents and their official translations; current news; calendars; numerical tables; generic tables or formulas.
Nevertheless, legal provisions cannot exhaustively list the types of works that may appear in actual practice, a fact that sometimes results in uncertainty as to exactly what is and is not protected under the Copyright Law. Under such circumstance, reference to the legislative principle of the Copyright Law is necessary to reach a sound judgement.
What is an "original work"?
The elements of originality include independent creation, reference within an acceptable range, a distinction between an idea and the expression of that idea, uniqueness of expression and whether or not the foundation of the work is in the public domain. In short, to be considered "original", a work must be independently created based on reference within an acceptable range; the possible expressions of a certain idea must be diverse enough to allow the author sufficient space for creation; and the foundation upon which the work originates must not be in the public domain. In addition, the concept of a "work" as defined by the Copyright Law refers to an intellectual creation that can meet the spiritual needs of the audience, in contrast to certain functional intellectual creations that are designed to meet more practical needs.
(Source: A Brief Analysis of the Objects of Copyright Protection by Li Xiangqi)
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