題號 또는 藝名을 둘러싼 法的인 問題點

Protection of title of a copyrighted work has been discussed from the perspective of copyright law, trademark law and unfair competition law. Some cases involving title protection went to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court in the late 1970s decided that title of a comic book cannot be a copyrighted work and that title of a drama can be protected when its use in a motion picture constitutes a violation of unfair competition act. Many articles treat these issues in the same way. This article denies basically the copy right ability of a title and argues how the title acquires the secondary meaning under the unfair competition act. On the other hand, the professional name of a celebrity especially in the entertainment business is on the table in the dispute or litigation these days. The professional name is very similar to title of a copyrighted work, and has the similar legal issues in copyright law, trademark law, and unfair competition law. Sometimes the name holder has a dispute with its management company or the third party who registered the trademark which is the same with the name. Of course, the professional name can be the subject matter of publicity right or name right of its holder even though the concept of the publicity right is not recognized, and this issue is different from that of title. I would also like to discuss the secondary meaning of a professional name from the viewpoint of unfair competition law or commercial name right. This article focuses on the similar legal issues which occur when it comes to the protection of title or professional name, and touches the issues on the comparative basis.