According to China's copyright law, selling, renting, transferring, or copying the copyright of an author's work without the author's written consent constituted an act of copyright violation. Therefore, if the author signed a copyright transfer agreement with the novel platform, but the platform sold the copyright without the author's consent, then the party who bought the copyright would be considered to have violated the copyright. Of course, if the author clearly expressed that he would no longer license the copyright of his work to the platform to sell, then the platform could no longer constitute an act of copyright violation. However, if the author did not explicitly express that he would no longer license the platform, he would be suspected of violating the author's copyright. In order to avoid any copyright violation, authors and novel platforms should carefully read the relevant laws and regulations when signing the copyright transfer agreement to ensure that their actions were legal and compliant.
Usually, the comic author and the platform would sign an agreement to make the author a third party to the copyright owner. This was because the creation of comics was usually done by the author himself. However, after the creation was completed, the author would usually sell the copyright to the platform so that the platform had the right to manage and use the copyright of the work. This kind of third-party copyright arrangement could make the platform more flexible in managing comics and also avoid conflicts of interest between the platform and the authors. For example, if the platform wanted to adapt a comic book into a movie or TV series, the platform could choose to sell the copyright to a third party and then distribute the copyright to different production companies. In this way, the platform could obtain the copyright revenue of the entire work without having to work directly with the author. Therefore, comic authors and platforms usually signed agreements to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties to ensure that the copyrights of comic works were properly managed and protected.
After signing an exclusive copyright contract with the webcomic platform, the copyright still belonged to the author. According to the law, copyright refers to the rights that the author has to his work, including copying, distribution, rental, exhibition, performance, screening, broadcasting, information network transmission, etc. When an author signs an exclusive license contract with a webcomic platform, the platform obtains the right to publish and spread the work on the platform. However, the author still has the copyright of the work, including the original expression of the work's name, author, plot, characters, etc. Therefore, even if the platform uploaded the work to the Internet, the author still had the right to modify the work, license others to use it, and obtain economic benefits. It should be noted that the exclusive license contract may involve some intellectual property terms, such as the scope of authorization, usage methods, profit distribution, etc. If you are not satisfied with these terms, you can seek legal advice.
It was actually a very controversial issue whether reprinting an article on the Internet without the author's permission was considered copyright violation because different countries and regions had different laws and regulations. Generally speaking, if an article was reprinted without authorization, it would indeed constitute an copyright violation. In China, according to the provisions of the "copyright law", without the permission of the copyright owner, no unit or individual may copy, distribute, rent, exhibit, perform, show, broadcast, information network transmission, etc., the use of other people's works. It also included a clause stating that the author had not given permission. Therefore, if the article was reprinted without authorization, it would be suspected of copyright violation. However, the law also stipulated that the copyright owner had the right to choose whether or not to license his work. No one could force or hinder the copyright owner to license. Therefore, in reality, the author can choose whether to allow others to reprint his article. If he chooses not to do so, it does not constitute an copyright violation. In short, whether the reprint of an article without authorization would constitute an infringement requires a specific analysis of the specific situation. If the reprint is suspected of copyright violation, it is recommended to contact the original author in time and obtain authorization.
Whether or not republishing an article on the Internet without the author's permission was considered an act of copyright violation required detailed analysis. If the source of the reprint was legal, such as from the author's official website, blog, or other legal channels, then it was generally legal. This was because according to the copyright law, the author enjoyed copyright, including intellectual property rights in the form of literary works, text, audio, video, and so on. Reprinting the author's work without the author's permission may constitute an copyright violation. However, if the source of the reprinted article was illegal, such as through plagiarism, theft, tamper, etc., then even if the source was indicated, it was invalid. This was because the copyright law also stipulated that fair use, quote, adaptation, and other methods could be used to protect legal reprints. Therefore, it was necessary to analyze the situation in detail to see if reprinting an article on the Internet without the author's permission was considered as an copyright violation. If the source was legal, then it was legal; if the source was illegal, then it might constitute an copyright violation.
Unauthorized uploading of the author's work online was considered an act of copyright violation. According to the copyright law, without the permission of the copyright owner, no one can upload the author's work to the Internet for public distribution, nor can it be used for commercial purposes. If you upload an author's work to the Internet without authorization, it will be considered an act of copyright violation and you will face legal responsibility. If the copyright is violated, the copyright owner has the right to request the removal of the copyright and compensation for the loss. Therefore, it is recommended to contact the author and obtain permission before uploading any work. This way, it could avoid the problem of copyright violation to the greatest extent.
Generally speaking, when an author signed a contract with a novel, the copyright would belong to the platform. This did not mean that the author's copyright was immediately owned by the platform, but that the author and the platform had reached an agreement that the platform would use the work without authorization. This agreement was often called a "copyright transfer agreement". The platform had to pay the copyright fee to the author and own the copyright for a certain period of time. During this time, the author could still modify, publish, and distribute the work, but the platform had the right to adapt, distribute, and use the work. It should be noted that if the author has sold the copyright to a third party before signing the contract, the copyright of the work will directly belong to the third party. In addition, if the work had been published before the contract was signed, the copyright would also belong to the author. Whether the copyright of the novel written by the author belonged to the platform needed to be determined according to the specific situation.
Generally speaking, after the author signed a contract with the company, the copyright would be in the hands of the company. This was because when signing a contract, the author would usually sign a copyright transfer agreement with the company to transfer the copyright of the novel to the company. The company could use and maintain the intellectual property rights of the novel. This agreement usually involved the purchase, adaptation, translation, distribution, and other details of the copyright. Although the author of the novel owned the copyright of the novel, after signing the contract, they would usually distribute the copyright to the company and other agents to obtain more profits. For example, the company might represent it to media platforms, editors, or other partners to adapt the novel into various forms of work and earn money from it. Therefore, after the author signed a contract with the company, the copyright of the novel would be in the hands of the company. The company could independently develop and operate the IP of the novel, while the author was only responsible for creating and sharing the content of the novel.
Writing a comic as a novel without the consent of the original author was an act of copyright violation. According to the copyright law, without the permission of the copyright owner, copying, distributing, performing, screening, broadcasting, information network transmission, etc., using the work or adapting, translating, compiling, or arranging the work into a work is an act of copyright violation. Transforming a comic into a novel without the authorization of the original comic author may be considered an act of copyright violation. Because manga and novels were created in different ways, novels usually needed to reconstruct and expand the storyline, which might involve more copyright issues. Therefore, when transforming comics into novels, copyright issues needed to be handled carefully to avoid copyright abuses.
If the novel was adapted into a script without the permission of the author and published publicly, it would be an copyright violation. Because the novel was the original intellectual property of the author, adapting it into a script without the author's permission and publishing it publicly would violate the author's copyright. Although the adaptation of the script was a new creative process, if one did not respect the original work and altered, deleted, added, or even completely abandoned it, it would also constitute copyright. In addition, if the adapted script was publicly released, they might face legal action. Therefore, when adapting a novel, the author's copyright should be respected, and the author's permission or copyright fee should be paid. Otherwise, they would be held legally responsible.
In the absence of a platform to sign a contract, the copyright of the book belonged to the author. However, some platforms may require authors to sign a contract with the platform before releasing their works to obtain copyright protection and other rights. Therefore, before writing a novel, it was recommended to understand the relevant copyright laws and platform regulations to avoid unnecessary disputes.