Be careful! The fonts used by your business may be infringing

As we all know, the establishment, operation and development of enterprises are inseparable from words, and the charm of words is everywhere. Words are entities, and fonts are abstract. For many enterprises, the fonts used in the normal operation of the enterprise have little effect, but the use of related fonts without permission may infringe copyright and bear corresponding civil liabilities, which will affect the normal operation of the enterprise to a certain extent. This article attempts to provide suggestions on how to avoid copyright infringement from the judicial determination of a company suing another company for copyright infringement disputes.

1. The focus of the case

According to the search results of the current judgment documents, there are 38 cases of a company suing other companies for copyright infringement disputes. The main focus of the dispute in the case is threefold: (1) Whether the Zhenglanting font library/Zhenghan Zhenguang font in dispute are works in the sense of copyright law; (2) The defendant used the font files of the Zhenglanting font library involved in the Whether the relevant rights of a certain company have been violated in the client software, products, etc.; (3) The issue of civil liability.

(1) Whether the object of the dispute is a work in the sense of copyright law

1. The Supreme People's Court:According to the provisions of Article 2 of the "Copyright Law Implementation Regulations", a work in the sense of copyright law refers to an original work in the fields of literature, art and science. Intellectual achievements that are sexual and reproducible in some tangible form. According to Article 3(1) of the "Computer Software Protection Regulations", a Zhenglanting font library is a computer-executed coding instruction made to obtain relevant fonts and fonts that can be displayed on the output devices of computers and related electronic equipment Therefore, it belongs to the computer program stipulated in Article 3(1) of the Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software, and is a work in the sense of copyright law.

2. Beijing Higher People's Court: According to Article 4(8) of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China", works of art refer to paintings, calligraphy Two-dimensional or three-dimensional plastic art works with aesthetic significance composed of lines, colors or other methods, such as sculptures and sculptures. The fonts in a Zhenglanting V4.0 font library are calligraphic art composed of lines and have a certain aesthetic significance, which meet the conditions of fine art works stipulated in the Copyright Law.

3. Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court: A Zheng company created the art work "Zheng Han Zhen Guang Biao Style" and registered its copyright with the National Copyright Administration. Its copyright is protected by the Copyright Law of our country.

(2) Whether the defendant's behavior violated the relevant rights of a certain company

1. The Supreme People's Court: The defendant's behavior violated the right of reproduction, distribution, remuneration and information network dissemination of the company's computer software in dispute, It should bear civil responsibilities such as stopping the infringement and compensating the losses suffered by a certain company due to its infringement.

2. Beijing Higher People's Court: The defendant infringed the copyright enjoyed by a certain company, and should bear the civil liability of stopping the infringement, making an apology, eliminating the impact and compensating for losses.

3. Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court: The defendant infringed upon the copyright enjoyed by a certain company on the art work "Zheng Han Zhen Guang Biao Style", and should be responsible for stopping the infringement, Civil liability such as a formal apology, compensation for the plaintiff's economic losses and reasonable expenses.

(3) The defendant's civil liability

As far as the current judgment documents are available, there are a total of 38 cases in which a certain company sued other companies for copyright infringement disputes, almost all of which were successful, and the amount of compensation for economic losses ranged from 3,000 yuan to 2 million yuan. A certain company did not provide evidence for its actual loss or the illegal income of the infringer or failed to provide effective evidence to prove it. Various factors such as sales price, place of use, degree of subjective fault, etc. shall be determined as appropriate.

Second, Conclusion

Proverb: keeping is harder than winning. (It is not easy to start a business, and it is more difficult to keep a business). With the development of economy and society, the public's awareness of rights protection has increased, and they will protect their own rights and interests through legal means such as litigation at any time. An enterprise is the carrier of shareholders' rights. Once involved in a lawsuit or losing a lawsuit, the stakes involved may endanger the survival and development of the enterprise. Enterprises should attach great importance to the font infringement issues discussed in this article, and do not touch the minefield. The author hereby offers the following suggestions for business reference:

1. Enterprises should try their best to choose free commercial fonts with clear authorization sources, and pay attention to whether their authorization scope and content have changed from time to time. At present, Song, Hei, Kai, Siyuan Song, X Zheng Hei, X Zheng Kai, etc. can be used for free.

2. Do not use fonts randomly downloaded from the Internet, QQ groups, Weibo and WeChat, etc. as design scripts on corporate decoration, promotional posters and other carriers.

3. The enterprise can sign a contract with the design company, entrust the design company to design the required fonts, and use the final design results.

4. When an enterprise entrusts a partner to produce copywriting, conduct publicity and other daily business activities involving fonts, should stipulate in the contract that the partner shall not infringe on the intellectual property rights of a third party. Otherwise, the responsibility shall be borne by the partner. In this way, the loss caused by the partner to the enterprise itself can be eliminated.

5. Use fonts with copyright registration in the National Copyright Administration with caution. Be sure to purchase from a regular company or website with copyright if you need to purchase, and keep the complete written contract and invoice.

6. If a formal company with copyright provides sufficient evidence to the enterprise to prove that the fact of infringement is established, the enterprise should entrust a professional lawyer to actively communicate with the company as soon as possible and handle it properly.