The theme song "Chinese Military Soul" of the TV drama "Bright Sword" conveys the noble spirit of soldiers defending their country with its powerful melody and passionate lyrics. With the popularity of the TV drama, this song has also become a beloved classic. However, this military song was adapted into a company theme song by an insurance company and used for internal company activities. Recently, the People's Court of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, after trial, made a judgment on this copyright infringement dispute case, determining that the actions of the insurance company constitute an infringement of the attribution rights, protection of the integrity rights, reproduction rights, adaptation rights, and performance rights of the music work "Chinese Military Soul". The court demanded that the insurance company immediately stop the infringement, apologize to the songwriter, eliminate the impact, and compensate the Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection. The basic case is that "Chinese Military Soul" was released in 2005, and Mr. Li is the songwriter of the song. Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. is authorized to enjoy the copyright and rights protection of the song. Mr. Li and Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. discovered that the General Manager of the Personal Business Department of an insurance company, Mr. Li, had illegally adapted the lyrics of "Chinese Military Soul" by replacing core elements such as "Motherland", "Yellow River and Yangtze River", and "Red Flag Fluttering" with business-related content of the insurance company. The insurance company then combined elements such as staff image with the adapted song to create a music video, which was played at company morning meetings, annual marketing conferences, and other occasions, while organizing employees to sing together. In addition, the original author of the song, Mr. Li, was not named in the MV. Mr. Li and Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. believe that the above-mentioned actions constitute an infringement of the attribution rights, protection of the integrity of the work, and reproduction rights of the song and lyrics of "Chinese Military Soul". They also constitute an infringement of the modification rights, adaptation rights, performance rights, and screening rights of the lyrics of "Chinese Military Soul". Therefore, they sued the insurance company's headquarters, branch offices, and Mr. Li to the court, demanding that the four defendants immediately stop the infringement, publish a statement of infringement on a designated platform, apologize and eliminate the impact, and compensate Mr. Li for economic losses of 1 million yuan, and compensate Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. for economic losses and reasonable rights protection expenses of 500000 yuan. The head office of the insurance company believes that there is no fault or infringement, and the subsidiary of the insurance company has the ability to independently bear corresponding civil liability and sufficient assets. If the court finds that the infringement is established, the subsidiary should bear the responsibility. The insurance company's subsidiaries and branches believe that the lyrics of the adapted song are intended to express the spirit of unity and progress among employees, and are only used for internal self appreciation and encouragement. It has not been used for external performances or broadcasts, nor has it been used for commercial purposes. There is no evidence to prove that infringing works have been "widely used", and the company has not benefited from it. Li believes that he was not aware of the use of the adapted song during his tenure, and his involvement in the case is related to work-related duties and should not be held responsible. The court ruled that the Pudong Court, after trial, believed that Li's modification of the lyrics changed the original intention and basic expression of the song, resulting in the work being unable to correctly reflect the author's intended thoughts and emotions, which constitutes an infringement of Mr. Li's right to protect the integrity of the work and the right to adapt the work. The adaptation behavior involved in the case has changed the original intention and basic expression of the song, which constitutes distortion and tampering of the plaintiff's work. This behavior does not comply with the scope of control of the modification right, and it cannot be determined that the above behavior violates the modification right. The MV of the adapted song did not include the original author's name, which constitutes an infringement of Mr. Li's right of authorship. The insurance company's production of "Chinese Military Soul" as a music video through audio, video, and other means infringes on the reproduction rights enjoyed by Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. The broadcasting of the MV by the insurance company's subsidiaries and branches in public constitutes a "mechanical performance" and infringes upon the performance rights enjoyed by the Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., not the screening rights. The act of Li adapting lyrics belongs to official duties, and the corresponding responsibility should be borne by the company where he works. In summary, the involvement of insurance company branches and subsidiaries in the case constitutes an infringement of the rights to attribution, protection of the integrity, reproduction, adaptation, and performance of the music work "Chinese Military Soul". The Pudong Court, taking into account factors such as the popularity of "Chinese Military Soul" and related authorization fees, the scope of infringement, and the defendant's subjective fault, has ruled that the insurance company's branch and subsidiary companies should immediately cease to carry out the infringing acts involved in the case. The insurance company's branch companies should compensate the Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection of 60000 yuan, and the insurance company's subsidiary companies should bear joint and several liability for 10000 yuan of it. If the property of the insurance company's branch and subsidiary companies is insufficient to bear it, it should be borne by the insurance company's headquarters; Based on the time, scope, and consequences of the infringing acts involved, the insurance company branch is ordered to issue a statement on its official website apologizing to Mr. Li and eliminating the impact. After the verdict, the two plaintiffs appealed on the grounds that the compensation amount determined in the first instance judgment was too low. After trial, the second instance court deemed that the factors comprehensively considered by the first instance court were relatively comprehensive, and the determined compensation amount was still reasonable. Therefore, the appeal was rejected and the original judgment was upheld. The judge reminded Yang Jie, Deputy Chief Judge of Lujiazui People's Court of Pudong Court (formerly an intellectual property trial judge of Pudong Court), that firstly, whether the employee's behavior belongs to duty behavior needs to be comprehensively considered. In this case, Li adapted "Chinese Military Soul", and from the lyrics, it closely follows the elements of corporate business; From the perspective of usage scenarios, it is used for internal activities such as company morning meetings and marketing conferences, serving the official purpose of team motivation; From the content of the MV, the purpose is to showcase the image of company employees and introduce branch offices. These details indicate that the behavior was carried out to complete the company's work tasks, and the responsibility belongs to the company. Therefore, the corresponding infringement liability should be borne by the company. Secondly, it is necessary to accurately distinguish the boundaries of each copyright function. The right of modification refers to partial changes to the content of a work, as well as revisions to the wording and language, without creating new works. In this case, the defendant changed the original lyrics that extolled the spirit of soldiers to content that incentivized corporate marketing, which essentially changed the intention and core expression of the work. Therefore, this behavior does not fall within the scope of modification control and constitutes an infringement of the author's right to protect the integrity of the work. At the same time, such changes create original new works that, without permission, also constitute an infringement of the author's right of adaptation. In addition, the act of playing new music videos in public belongs to "mechanical performance", which is subject to performance rights control and is not subject to the projection rights control of publicly reproducing audiovisual works through projectors and other equipment. Finally, attention should be paid to the intellectual property protection of such works. The Chinese Military Soul "is a song of great artistic value that has moved countless people. The arbitrary adaptation of such works for commercial marketing is not only a disregard for copyright, but also a disregard for national spiritual symbols. Only by respecting works that carry special spiritual values and paying attention to the protection of intellectual property and other rights can we better maintain national emotions and consolidate social consensus. (Author affiliation: Pudong New Area People's Court, Shanghai) (News Agency)