Related basis
The subject of the right to rent a work is the copyright owner, including both the author and the person who has obtained the right to rent a work according to law, such as the author's heir and the person who has obtained the right to rent through contract transfer.
The right to rent a work is one of the property rights of the work, and its object is the work rather than the carrier of the work. According to paragraph 7 of Article 10 and Article 4 1 of the Copyright Law, the right to rent works is limited to film works, works created by methods similar to filming, computer software and audio-visual works. Regarding the object of lease right, some people think that it is the carrier of works, the object used to fix and spread works, such as books and CDs, and the object of ownership.
According to Article 7, Article 4, Article 46 and Article 52 of the Copyright Law, the contents of copyright can be summarized as follows:
1. Copyright owners have the right to rent copies of their works.
2. The copyright owner has the right to license others to rent copies of his works, and no one may rent copies of his works without the consent of the copyright owner, except as otherwise provided by law.
Copyright owners have the right to receive remuneration from those who rent their works.
The lessor, as the legal purchaser of the copy of the work, has the right to use and rent the copy and collect a certain reward according to the principle of the traditional property law theory, and others have no right to interfere. The right to lease works seems to limit the real right, which is caused by the mandatory provisions of the law. In fact, in the existing civil law theory, it can provide a solid legal backing for legislation and give copyright owners the right to rent, which has a profound theoretical basis.
The reason why the copyright owner is given the right to rent is because the copy of the work is a double combination of the work and the carrier, and the lessor rents the copy of the work, which is essentially a work attached to the carrier. Therefore, the owner of a work, that is, the copyright owner, has the right to prohibit others from renting copies of his work.
First of all, the copy of the work is a double combination of the work and the carrier. As the carrier of expression, it is by no means the work itself. The copy of the work itself is not only a single object, but also the carrier of the work. Although it is not the work itself, it contains the work, and the work and the carrier are inseparable. On the one hand, works, as a spiritual product, are invisible, intangible, invisible and imperceptible in space. Only when it is attached to a carrier can it be perceived. A work without a carrier cannot exist objectively in the world, and the existence of a work is out of the question. On the other hand, the carrier is also inseparable from the work. Without a work, a single carrier can't make a copy of the work, leaving only ordinary manuscript paper, plastic and other objects.
Secondly, the essence of renting a copy of a work by a lessor is to rent a work. A copy of a work is a double combination of the work and the carrier. When the lessor rents a copy of the work, it rents the work together, not the carrier. In addition, both the lessor and the lessee agree to rent the work. The lessor rents the copy of the work on the premise that the work is attached to the carrier, and the lessee rents the copy of the work for the purpose of appreciating the work.
Third, the buyer of the copy of the work has no right to rent the work. Generally speaking, the right to lease is not restricted by the principle of exhaustion of rights. In other words, after the copyright owner agrees to sell, the copyright owner still enjoys the right to rent these copies. As far as the buyer is concerned, he legally bought the copy of the work, enjoyed the ownership of the carrier according to law, and obtained the right to appreciate the work. However, he did not acquire the copyright of the work because of the act of buying the copy of the work, and he has no right to dispose of the work, including renting the work, without the permission of the author.
Therefore, the purchaser of a copy of a work has no right to rent it, and the copyright owner has the right to prohibit others from renting it.