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Little A: *My Fair Princess* has been remade! The new version is called *New My Fair Princess*.

B: Is that so? I will refresh the page later.

Xiao A: That's not all. The old TV series *Wrong Carriage, Right Groom* has been remade.

Xiao B: Hey, really? (Searching on the mobile phone...) I can't find *New Wrong Carriage, Right Groom*.

A: The name is incorrect. The new title is *My Dear Destiny*.

Xiao B: I found it. ... Huh? There is also a new adaptation of *Half a Lifelong Romance* named *Affectionate Origin of Fate*? ... There have really been a great many remade TV series in recent years!

Indeed, as mentioned in the aforementioned joke, *New My Fair Princess*, *New Legend of the White Snake*, *New Bright Sword*, *New A Step into the Past*... A review of TV drama productions in recent years shows that TV drama remakes have emerged in an endless stream. Producers seem to have moved beyond the existing practice of adapting novels and comics into TV dramas, and identified a new source of content creation. On this basis, negotiating the authorization and licensing of remake dramas with the copyright holders of the original TV dramas has become an indispensable link. In this context, what types of works are involved in licensing negotiations, and what types of rights are required to facilitate the smooth progress of our subsequent remake work? The author hereby puts forward preliminary views on this issue.

To remake a TV series, it is mandatory to obtain authorization from the copyright owner of the original TV series. This notion has been deeply rooted in the public's mind along with the continuous improvement of public awareness of intellectual property rights. However, China's Copyright Law stipulates that the copyright of a work includes as many as 17 rights, consisting of four moral rights and 13 economic rights. Is it necessary to obtain all the aforesaid rights for remaking?

The answer is negative. The various rights under copyright govern different types of acts. For remakes, it is only necessary to obtain the rights related thereto. The author holds that the negotiation and conclusion of licensing transactions require considerable input of time, financial and other costs. It is a well-known fact that the more rights are acquired, the higher the corresponding costs to be paid. Obtaining maximum benefits with minimum input is also a desirable outcome for a large number of producers and investors. Accordingly, acquiring corresponding entitlements as needed is a more cost-effective approach for producers and investors.

To ensure that rights may be acquired as needed, we hereby examine what type of act TV drama remakes are defined as and which copyright entitlements govern such acts in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Law of China.

Generally speaking, there are two interpretations of TV drama remakes: The first refers to the re-production of existing films or TV dramas of the same theme and similar storylines, which falls into the category of re-creation, as exemplified by the remake of *My Fair Princess* into *New My Fair Princess*. The second refers to the parodic imitative production of official TV programs, films and TV dramas, which can be simply understood as a relationship analogous to that between *A Chinese Odyssey* and *Journey to the West* written by Wu Chengen.

Judging from the highly popular remade TV dramas that have emerged in recent years, including the new version of *A Step into the Past*, *Eighteen Springs*, and the new version of *The Legend of the White Snake*, most of the remake works commonly encountered at present fall into the first type as mentioned above.

Certainly, in light of the foregoing interpretation, it is not difficult to find that any form of remake constitutes re-creation carried out on the basis of retaining the basic expression of the original work, which gives rise to a new work. Such act is governed by the right of adaptation under the Copyright Law of China. It follows that the core right for which permission shall be obtained from the copyright owner of the original TV drama is the right of adaptation as a component of copyright.

After clarifying the required entitlements, you may conduct negotiations on such entitlements with the copyright owner of the original TV drama. Upon the completion of negotiations and consultations, the producer or investor may feel relieved, assuming that the remake of the TV drama can finally be launched. The plot of the original TV drama can be innovated; the script of the original TV drama can be used as a template and modified to form the script of the new drama; the well-produced music in the original TV drama can be directly used; the interludes in the original drama have room for upgrading... If you hold such ideas only after obtaining permission from the copyright owner of the original TV drama, you are making a grave mistake. Why is that? It requires us to study the works incorporated in the original TV drama. As mentioned earlier, what is obtained is the adaptation right of the "original TV drama". However, works such as the script, music and interludes contained in the original TV drama are independent works that can be used separately, and their copyrights may be exercised independently by the authors of the respective works. This means that if you intend to adapt such works, you need to obtain the corresponding adaptation rights again, that is, obtain the adaptation right of the script from the copyright owner of the script, the adaptation right of the music from the copyright owner of the music, and so forth. Some of these copyright owners overlap. Therefore, when planning the remake of a TV drama, you shall conduct a thorough investigation on the work composition of the original TV drama and the copyright ownership thereof, so as to realize a more effective package settlement of copyright issues. Another point that shall be attached importance to is that many TV dramas are currently adapted from novels or comics, such as the previously popular *Eternal Love*, *The Flame's Daughter*, *The Long Ballad*, *Hua Jiang Hu* and so on. Such TV dramas are in themselves derivative works of the corresponding novels or comics. It is recommended that when conducting the copyright ownership investigation, you also verify whether there are restrictive agreements between the copyright owner of the original novel or comic and the copyright owner of the original TV drama regarding the adaptation and remake of the TV drama, for example, an agreement stipulating that the copyright owner of the original TV drama shall not license others to conduct adaptation, so as to avoid unnecessary losses.