Beijing 2008 sets right to protect music copyright of own and others

The copyrights of music used for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be protected by the organizers, according to a protection plan set out on November 8 by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC).

A BOCOG Legal principal said, protecting copyrights of musical works at the Olympics is naturally important and difficult on account of the magnitude of musical works possibly involved, diversity of ways using them and broad spectrum of places using them.  The current plan is an outcome of one-year negotiation between the two parties and filtering of experiences of previous Games.  Under the plan, BOCOG will purchase licenses from MCSC for music used at the Olympics.  As a right holder of many Olympic songs including the Song of 2008 Olympics, BOCOG granted a power of attorney to MCSC to manage its music copyright issues such as performance right and reproduction right of its musical portfolio in a bid to ensure convenient access for businesses to record, distribute, performance and play the musical works with authorization.(by Liu Chao)

奥运音乐作品知识产权保护方案公布

本报讯　11月8日，北京奥组委与中国音乐著作权协会举行了音乐著作权保护授权文件交换仪式，并公布了2008北京奥运会所涉及的音乐作品的知识产权保护方案。北京奥组委授权音著协对奥运歌曲的著作权事务进行全面管理。

北京奥组委法律事务部相关负责人表示，由于奥运会涉及的音乐作品数量庞大、传播方式多样、传播范围广泛，因此奥运音乐作品的著作权，既是保护重点又是保护难点。为此，北京奥组委与中国音乐著作权协会经过近一年的协商，在借鉴历届奥运会保护经验的基础上，形成了音乐作品知识产权保护方案。根据方案，北京奥组委依法就奥运会使用音乐作品向音著协取得著作权许可，并支付著作权使用费；作为包括北京奥运会会歌在内的奥运歌曲的著作权人，北京奥组委授权音著协对奥运歌曲的表演权、复制权等著作权事务进行全面管理，以确保社会各行业、各企业通过合法获授权途径对奥运歌曲进行录制发行、现场演唱、公开播放等。（刘 超）