방송포맷의 국제적 보호방안에 관한 연구 - 한국과 중국에서의 보호를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This article discussed on the protection of TV formats by copyright and unfair competition law in Korea and China, and made the following conclusions. First, it is difficult for TV formats to meet the creativity standard of copyrighted work when each element of a format is separately considered. However, the total concept and feel of the entire format elements being considered, it is relatively easy to meet the creativity standard. Furthermore, considering that the authorship of a TV format comes from the selection, arrangement and structure of the formats elements, it can also be protected as a compilation of data. Still, the problem of too-long term of protection, that is, 70 years from a format’s publication, remains. Second, in applying Article 2 1-ho cha-mok of Korea Unfair Competition Prevention Act(KUCPA) to TV format, the test should be ① whether the compound of the whole elements, not each element, amounts to a ‘fruit’ of the plaintiff, and ② that the defendant’s appropriation should be determined to be ‘contrary to honest business practices’ only when plaintiff’s and defendant’s formats are of the same kind. Third, production knowhow and information on advertisement amount to the subject matter of trade secret protection under both KUCPA and Anti Unfair Competition Act of China, under which the disclosure or appropriation of the above information is the infringement of trade secrets. Fourth, legislation for the protection of TV formats in the Copyright Act or KUCPA is not possible at the moment, because of the lack of information necessary for the legislation due to the variety of TV formats. So, for the moment, the protection of TV format by cha-mok of KUCPA is the most appropriate.