Rethinking the Intellectual Property Protection Triggered by Internet Technology Innovations

2019/02/22

On January 12, the 9th China IP International Annual Forum and 2019 Annual Conference of In-House IP Managers in China, hosted by China IP Magazine was held in Beijing. At the Forum of China IP Management Trend, Hu Huiji, Director of Legal Affairs of iQIYI Inc., shared the information on IP protection issues caused by current Internet technology innovation and the re-thought of its corresponding solution. The following is Hu Huiji’s speech, recorded and organized by China IP.
As we all know, the technological development of the Internet industry is changing everyday. I believe that technological innovation and intellectual property protection are like a pair of lovers, with one’s growth depending on the other. From my experience of working in the field of intellectual property in the Internet industry for nearly ten years, sometimes, technological innovation brings trouble to people, because it may cause many intellectual property disputes. But at the same time, technological innovation will also bring a lot of convenience to intellectual property protection, and the two are constantly changing. In the new era, whether it is a new pattern of technological innovation or a new pattern of intellectual property protection, the two constantly generate a dynamic balance.
Hu Huiji, Director of Legal Affairs of iQIYI Inc.
 
Taking this opportunity, I mainly share with you the four hot issues in 2018, namely artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data and data protection, as well as short video copyright issues.
 
First of all, some ideas and problems about AI.
 
Here is a brief review of the development of artificial intelligence: the term “AI” was first proposed in 1956, known as the first year of AI; after several troughs, the 1997 IBM Deep Blue computer defeated the chess champion for the first time, which was the first time that AI has defeated human. In 2016, Google AlphaGo defeated the world champion Li Shishi, opening a new era. In 2017, the robot Sophia was officially given citizenship in Saudi Arabia.
 
A way of regarding the relationship between AI and intellectual property is to consider whether the creation of AI can be regarded as a work. No matter from the viewpoint of music, literature, film and television, or the Internet industry and entertainment industry, there are more and more controversy on this issue in recent years, because the development of technology has allowed some AI to create works that are legal in the sense of copyright law. Rethinking some intellectual property issues brought about by AI, and each industry has its own perspective.
 
For example, is AI qualified as a subject? There is a view that AI can be given legal personality, such as the identity that Japan has given to robotic authors. Another view is that AI is still a tool of creation in the era of weak AI and is not qualified as an independent.
 
For another example, in the past two years, a question is often raised in the practice community, including courts and enterprises: Can the creation constitute a work? Some people believe that if the content of AI has the meaning of works recognized by Copyright Law, it has the attributes of a work, since its form is original and can be copied. Another point of view is that the original expression of the work must be derived from human thoughts and emotions. If it is only a fixed result derived from a fixed algorithm, it is not original, so that it is not a work.
In general, there are many interconnections and disputes between AI, patents and copyrights. iQIYI also has some AI applications. For example, when watching the iQIYI advertisements, the audience may have already been affected by AI. This is a gradual process. We believe that in the future, AI will be more likely to bring convenience to people than to fundamentally subvert human beings legally.
 
Second, the blockchain technology is also a problem that has been discussed a lot in the past two years.
 
From the perspective of IP protection, blockchain brings convenience to illegal evidence collection by internet infringements. In the past two years, blockchains were more and more widely used in the field of network infringement. Whether for Internet enterprises or for traditional enterprises, such a transient problem of network infringement exists, that is, and the time period for network infringement is very short: when the notarization is being accepted, it is likely that the violation has already ended and it is difficult to fix the relevant evidence.
Blockchain technology, while bringing convenience, has also caused some controversy in judicial practice. The blockchain technology is implemented by means of timestamp technology to ensure the co-existence of data at a specific time or a certain time. The P2P network technology is used to decentralize the system, and the encryption algorithm is used to ensure data security. Consensus algorithms is used to ensure the consistency of computer node data, and there are certain techniques to ensure that data can not be falsified. However, the above methods have some controversy in practice.
 
We are pleased to see that some courts in Beijing and the Hangzhou Internet Court have actually begun to use blockchain forensics techniques to make some judicial decisions, which is very encouraging for Internet companies.
 
Third, big data and data protection.
 
In terms of big data, there have been many Internet cases in the past two years.
For example, the first data protection case of Sina, and some subsequent data protection cases of iQIYI. The core value of big data is widely recognized in business and society. Whether it is an Internet company or a traditional enterprise, the demand for data protection has risen to a stage of business strategy. Whether it is data of the citizens (such as consumption habits) or industry data, it is very important and is a core asset. The protection of big data intellectual property, whether is it copyright protection or anti-unfair competition protection, is very important.
 
While focusing on big data protection, data pollution has become a very serious problem. Technical pollution is very common, whether by technical means or by manual interference. In 2018, iQIYI sued a company for video data broadcasting pollution. It received first-instance support in Shanghai Xuhui People's Court. The case itself has typical significance and belongs to the first anti-unfair competition case in the field of video data broadcasting.
 
In the end, about the issue of short video copyrights.
 
The short video industry has affected all aspects of people's lives, such as the commonly used short video apps: TikTok and Kuaishou. Short video now accounts for nearly 50% of the total video market, and is expected to grow further in 2019. We believe that regarding the relationship between short video infringement liability and the safe haven principle, if it is a popular film or TV drama, the safe haven principle is actually not applicable, and the reasonable duty of attention is relatively higher than the traditional short video in the true sense.
 
The another problem about short video itself, that is, how to determine whether it constitutes a work by length, which is a common problem in reality. The short video platform should assume a higher duty of attention. The platform acts as a creative motivator, and it needs to bear more duty of attention for tort liability. The short video platform itself should be open to more investment and research and intellectual property protection. Right holders such as iQIYI or rights holders of film and TV dramas should also respond positively to improve corporate social responsibility.
 
In summary, the relationship between the development of Internet technology and the protection of Internet intellectual property rights, as mentioned above, is a bit like love or marriage. Only by complementing each other and joining together can they achieve better development in terms of IP protection.