Shenrancaijing original

Author | Li Qiuhan

Editor | Wei Jia

You Ai Teng (Youku, iQiyi, Tencent) and Dou Kuai B (Tik Tok, Kuaishou, Station B) have been on the bar for two months because of the “Second Film and Television Creation”.

“The second creation of film and television” refers to the act of interpreting, editing, cutting, transporting, and disseminating the content of film and television works. In recent years, many films of “X minutes to watch movies” and “XX say movies” have been born on short video platforms. Big V.

First, on April 9th ​​and April 23rd, Uni-Ten and several film and television companies jointly issued a statement on the unauthorized use of the “Second Film and Television Creation” on Doukuai B; on May 28th, the three companies once again joined forces to target A piracy of “Friends Reunion Special” appeared at station B and issued a statement condemning it; on June 3, at the China Internet Audiovisual Conference, the three heads again bombarded station B and Douyin, pushing public opinion to a high point; two days later , The six major film and television companies came to help again, forwarding the joint proposal of 70 film and television units and more than 500 artists on April 23, and once again expressed their opinions.

A joint statement issued by Youai Tengman with 53 film and television companies and 15 film and television industry associations on April 9

The “five kills” of the long video platform serialized in one go, while on the other end, Shake Kuai B performed the same. So far, no public voice has responded to this matter.

“This is a big blow,” Chen Momo, vice president of Yuanjing Capital, told Shenran that the new “Copyright Law” took effect on June 1. “The second film and television creation infringement captured by You Aiteng is a reasonable and legal point. Douyin, Kuaishou, and Station B cannot be refuted.”

However, even so, Uni-Ten has launched rights protection for each video, which is costly and difficult. Douyin Kuaishou B is on the station, and there are still no lack of second-generation film and television works until now.

The stalemate continues.

You Aiteng is coming fiercely, what happened in the past two months? What exactly is the antidote for Douyin, Kuaishou, and Station B? Where will the end of this scuffle go?

“The Second Film and Television Creation” can’t disappear

The “Second Film and Television Creation” dispute has been in trouble for two months, but this does not mean that this type of video has disappeared on Douyin, Kuaishou, and Station B.

According to Shenzhen Ran’s observations, in the film and television chat section of Station B, Tencent’s popular video drama “Douro Continent”, iQiyi’s popular drama “Fall in Love with Special Forces”, and Youku’s completed “Mountain River Order” and other related film and television creations are impressive Column, and the playback volume is extremely high. On Douyin, the topic of “movie editing” has been viewed 139.5 billion times. This year, Tencent Video’s popular “Jade Heart Like Jade” and other film and television works CUT are still being updated.

Screenshot of the screen of the film and television channel of station B recently

Screenshots of videos related to recent Douyin film and television topics

Shen Ran communicated with many film and television UP owners on station B and Douyin and found that wait and see and transformation are the most mentioned words. Some of them circumvented the popular UAT dramas and turned to the second creation of classic domestic film and television dramas and foreign hits, and some moved to animation and variety shows. Tucao on hot topics is also one of the breakthroughs. If you still want to explain the film and television works that are popular on YouAiteng, some of the UP hosts have changed to live appearances, but Xiaofei, the creator of Douyin Film and Television II, told Shenran that the traffic is not as good as the original film. In order to avoid copyright disputes, he The update was simply suspended.

In terms of platform review, film and television UP owner He Xiang told Shenran that his work is partial to film and television commentary and complaints, and he has not encountered a situation where the platform cannot be reviewed. He communicated with his peers and found that everyone reported that the content of cutting and pure handling has become difficult to pass the review, but more creative explanations and complaints have not yet clearly felt the tightening of the review. Up to now, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Station B have not made public announcements about this matter.

This dispute has made the relationship between creators, filmmakers, and users more subtle.

After You Aiteng issued a joint statement, the film and television UP host He Xiang originally had some worries. What surprised him was that During this period, the number of film and television companies that found him to work with has doubled than before. “The first sentence they found was, I will authorize you.” When he said this, he couldn’t help but smile.

The reason for this phenomenon, the producer Wen Yu explained to Shen Ran. Now the film party attaches great importance to the promotion of the series on the short video platform. When a series is about to go online, their team will also take the initiative to find the film and television UP host and shake. Yinda made a wonderful CUT, “Whether it is to attract the attention of the audience or complain about it, this is already a very important marketing tool.”

Lao Zhang, who specializes in drama series marketing, also told Shen Ran that in the two months since the joint statement was issued, they could only bypass the film and television mix-cutting method, and shifted the focus of the announcement to topical marketing such as play tricks and artist linkage. But “in fact, there is still no direct short video diversion.”

In other words, no matter from the perspective of publicity and the entertainment effect derived from the second creation, the “second creation of film and television” has a certain demand on the production and consumption ends. This made Wang Hong, an executive of one of the 53 film and television companies involved in the joint statement, somewhat helpless. He told Shen Ran, “ In fact, we never said that there should be no second film and television creation, and there is no conflict with drama marketing, but we are discussing the issue of copyright ownership. “.

“At present, many long dramas can only be watched by users who have bought members. Especially for account-sharing dramas (the number of times that UAT users watched determines the amount of share that the film party receives), the film party depends on the amount of share of the two-year accounting period. Pay back, but can watch CUT directly on Douyin Kuaishou, who would want to buy members to watch dramas? This damages the business path of the long video platform to a certain extent.” Wang Hong said.

Long videos can’t afford to lose money, but in the eyes of many people, Uni-Ten has put an end to the second film and television creation on the short video platform, and it can’t stop the loss. “ Loss is not a loss, it is a business aspect, infringement is a legal aspect, not in one dimension “, Wang Hong emphasized to Shen Ran.

According to his memories, You Aiteng launched the first joint statement. It only took a week before and after that 53 film producers participated in it. “In fact, for the film crew, whether it is UAT or Shake Kuai B, they are both important partners. Everyone does not want to offend, and it is not the short video platform that is resisting,” he emphasized again. The ultimate appeal is, “The copyright must be clear” .

In his view, the second creation of film and television (excluding the purely transported film and television CUT) not only has a demand between the user and the film producer, but also does not completely prohibit the second creation of film and television, but hopes to trace the copyright authorization and establish a reasonable mechanism.

What is the antidote?

How can this be solved?

The YouTube model is not suitable for local conditions. Refer to the music field. At first, the music used by users on the Douyin Kuaishou station B was not authorized. Later, the platform purchased the music rights for the free use of the UP owners. “The film and television rights also hope to achieve this effect in the future. “, Wang Hong said.

He revealed that there are two solutions that can be discussed at present, one is the actual copyright owner, and the creators of the “second film and television creation” one-to-one coordination of rights and interests; the other is the short video platform, for some familiar content , The purchase is open to UP masters.

Unlike music copyrights that are concentrated on platforms, film and television copyrights are more scattered. Regardless of the type, how to authorize it is still a problem.

In the opinion of investor Hu Shicheng, the distribution of film and television dramas will continue to give birth to new forms of copyright as the broadcasting ports evolve. He took the transition from a TV station to a long video platform as an example. In the past, episodes had only the broadcasting rights sold to TV stations. Later on the Internet long-term video platform appeared, and the copyright of the new media side was born. A drama can be sold to a TV station or a TV station. Sold to the long video platform.

At present, the demand for “second creation of film and television” is large. In his opinion, under copyright pressure, “the short video platform on the Internet may eventually be issued by copyright, that is, the content distribution channels are TV station + long video platform + short video platform Three kinds. “These three models are not mutually exclusive, but can also increase the revenue channels of content.

It’s not that such a model industry has never been implemented. In 2021, the NBA adopted a separate sales strategy for video copyrights in China. It sold the exclusive rights to digital media to Tencent, and the short video rights to Bytedance, namely Toutiao, Douyin, Watermelon Video, On Tik-Tok, you can have NBA daily game highlights, behind-the-scenes highlights and other content, as well as the right to edit and process short videos.

But when it comes to the film and television industry, there are two practical problems. The second film and television copyright is born. Can the buyer buy it, and can the seller sell it?

Source/Pexels

In Hu Shicheng’s judgment, the newly born second creation copyright is directly traded between the content party and the short video platform party, that is, the short video platform can directly cooperate with the content party without conflict of interest. In terms of the copyright of the second creation of film and television, long and short videos are at the same starting line. “If the long video platform is to buy the copyright, if you want to obtain the second creation copyright of the short video, you must also give a separate fee, which is also a control for the long video platform.” Said.

More than one producer told Shen Ran, They are of course willing to have such a new copyright channel born, but considering the actual situation, it is almost difficult to implement it at present, because “the film and television company does not have the right to negotiate in front of UAT.” . On the one hand, most of the content now is customized and self-produced dramas of UAT, that is, UAT is the first producer of the content; secondly, even if it is the Noon Sunshine, which is bursting every year, the industry leaders Ciwen Media and Huace For film and television, “for the money of 1.2 copyright creation, they dare not talk to the long video platform. After all, after this cooperation, they have to consider the next cooperation,” said Jia Jianguo, an executive of a film and television company, to Shen Ran.

In Wang Hong’s view, even if it wants to sell the copyright of the second creation of film and television, it may be a business between Youai Teng and Doukuai B in the short term.

So Shake Kuai B would like to buy it?

From the perspective of operability, Wang Chao, the founder of Wenyuan Think Tank, believes that, unlike the centralized music copyright, the convenience of authorization, the scattered copyright of film and television dramas, the cost is too high, “and the second creation copyright of film and television dramas, the film owner did not say The problem is much more complicated when authorized to UAT.”

An industry person who is close to station B and familiar with Douyin told Shenran that the possibility of buying the copyright of the second creation is unlikely. This is equivalent to admitting infringement. “The copyright cannot be bought completely. The short video platform will be dragged down the deep water of copyright, and fall into the same copyright pit as You Aiteng. , Short video platforms don’t think about it.”

However, in Hu Shicheng’s view, none of this will be a problem. “Film producers will indeed be afraid of platforms. In the past, TV stations were basically the only distributors of drama series, and they also had a very high position. However, after the emergence of Internet long-term video platforms, they paid high prices to attract content parties, and content parties increased their profit channels and developed. Now.”

“ Like the current short video platform, the long video platform certainly didn’t want to spend this money. “But in his opinion, the long video platform and the content side continue to use copyright to push the short video platform, and the latter is unwilling to abandon the second creation of film and television, this new channel will inevitably appear, “This is determined by the most basic supply and demand relationship. . No one can escape this law of supply and demand. ”

In summary, behind the “second creation of film and television” is a game of interests between long and short video platforms. Although it is difficult to implement, under the general trend of copyright management regulations, short video platforms may have to work with long video platforms to discuss a solution. The law.

It’s not just a video war

If, as Wang Hong said, the contradiction between the two parties lies in resolving the issue of copyright ownership of the “second film and television creation”, the matter would not be so difficult.

“The people who consume the second creation cannot be said to have migrated from the long video platform. The two types of consumers are likely to not completely overlap.” Chen Momo told Shenran that different carriers and channels have their own most suitable forms of content distribution. In her view, because of the different consumption scenarios and the differentiation of user needs to distribute film and television content for long and short videos, there is an opportunity to form a cooperation mechanism, and short videos may become effective channels for the promotion and diversion of long videos.

But the problem right now is that long and short video platforms have entered a zero-sum game.

This is reflected in the field of PGC.

As early as 2020, Station B has laid out the content of self-produced film and television dramas. The daily ceiling of Douyin and Kuaishou users is gradually showing. The next thing to do is to refine the operation of users to make them stay longer, and PGC content is the target. .

In 2021, Kuaishou has won the short video rights of major events such as the CBA League, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. There is an obvious trend to increase PGC content. An industry insider close to the Kuaishou skit told Shenran that Kuaishou skit has tried a content work of more than 10 minutes on a small scale. In addition to variety shows, Douyin has also recently focused its attention on short dramas. On June 10, Douyin held a short drama press conference. The first batch of online short dramas “Don’t Be Afraid of Love” and Huayi Brothers’ company Xinsheng Tang cooperation, Tian Yusheng supervised the production, the lineup is good.

Jia Jianguo told Shenran that he heard that his peers have earned 20 million from multiple shorts, and he also has the idea of ​​making shorts. “Many traditional film and television companies are already cooperating with Douyin and Kuaishou. Silently”, he said, Traditional companies are also moving closer to short video platforms .

This is also reflected in the UGC field. In the past two years, Youai Teng has shown its coveting for short videos to varying degrees in the form of revamping or creating new APPs. Previously, more than one UP owner told Shenran that it will continue to win Youai in 2021. Teng’s has been invited to settle in many times, but the flow effect is not good.

Perhaps, Station B, Douyin, and Kuaishou can launch a new Xiaoyou Acteng according to user preferences, but You Acteng has repeatedly been unable to support short video services, and it is difficult to launch a Xiaoyou Acteng B.

Source/Unsplash

However, it is worth noting that the more PGC content is deployed at station B and Kuaishou, as they move closer to Uni-Ten, their own losses are also increasing. According to the first quarter 2021 financial report of Station B and Kuaishou, the net loss of Station B was 904.9 million yuan, an increase of 68% over the same period last year. The adjusted net loss in the first quarter of Kuaishou was 4.92 billion yuan, an increase of 89% year-on-year.

Let the short video platform that is unwilling to give up traffic to pay the price for the copyright of the “second film and television creation” and fall into a greater content cost, which may be what Uni-Ten hopes to see.

Whether it’s You Aiteng or Shake Kuai B, the video business has always been the heart and soul of these Internet giants, new and old, especially the rising star of Bytedance, which has made the Tencent Empire feel passive and tricky. From the cut of the “second film and television creation”, we can see the secret battles between giants, the competition and cooperation of long and short videos, and the game between old and new forces.

Outside of this dispute, Jia Jianguo from a traditional film and television company told Shenran that he is now very anxious. The short video platform is in full swing, and the threshold for making dramas is getting lower and lower, and the way of expression from beginning to end is more in line with the needs of users.

He feels that this is like the self-media era that everyone can publish information. “If one day, the content creators on Douyin Kuaishou, everyone can make dramas to attract users and traffic. All will be subversion.” Although that day may not come, he already has a sense of powerlessness that no one can stop the tide in front of the rapidly developing Douyin Kuaishou B station.

The “second creation of film and television” is not without a solution, but for now, the battle is still confusing.

There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. The former tit-for-tat You Aiteng is rarely twisted into a rope, but who can judge the current You Aiteng VS Shake Kuai B, the camp will never change?

*The title picture comes from Visual China. At the request of the interviewee, Wen Zhong Xiaofei, He Xiang, Wen Yu, Lao Zhang, Wang Hong, and Jia Jianguo were pseudonyms.