Hotspots · Analysis

The entertainment law behind the popularity of "Her Variety Show"

When "her variety show" became the "traffic code" of the variety show market, the legal game inside and outside the camera never stopped. From suing the production team for "unedited audio clips leaking out", to falling into a reputation dispute for "plot insinuation of a certain enterprise", to a female workplace variety show being convicted of infringement for "unauthorized use of amateur diaries" - behind these hot events lies the rigid constraint of entertainment laws on "her storytelling".

1、 The 'reality' in the camera cannot cross boundaries

The core appeal of 'Her Variety Show' lies in the presentation of the true state of women, but the word 'real' has never been an excuse for infringement. Article 990 of the Civil Code explicitly includes the rights to portrait, reputation, privacy, etc. in the scope of personality rights protection, and the production characteristics of "her variety shows" precisely make these rights a high-frequency infringement area.

1. Portrait rights: full chain authorization from the main film to the behind the scenes footage

A female talk show variety show was once recognized by the court as "using portraits beyond the scope of authorization" because of the clips of the guests' "backstage makeup ugly" into the Tiktok propaganda video. The law clearly stipulates that the use of portraits must meet the dual requirements of "clear authorization+limited scope" - this means that the program team not only needs to specify in the contract that "the scope of portrait use includes feature films, trailers, and short video platform dissemination", but also needs to refine the "use period". Especially for reality shows with "360 degree shooting without blind spots", it is necessary to specially agree on the "permission to use ugly shots and unmodified images" to avoid disputes caused by "overexposure".

2. Privacy right: the red line that cannot be touched by "emotional ice breaking"

Her variety shows often create tears with "late night heart to heart talks" and "trauma sharing," but these contents may step into the privacy minefield. Personal experiences and emotional states have been classified as sensitive personal information, and their processing requires "separate consent". In practice, the court's recognition of "restrictions on the privacy rights of public figures" tends to be strict - even if guests voluntarily share, core privacy such as "undisclosed home addresses and medical records" are still absolutely protected by law.

3. Reputation right: Editing right is not the right to "recreate facts"

Editing is a narrative tool for her variety show, but it can also become a tool for infringement. A female growth variety show was subjected to online bullying for editing guests' "jokes" as "offensive remarks". In practice, the court has three criteria for determining whether the program team has infringed on reputation rights: whether there is "fabricated facts" (such as fabricating guest remarks out of thin air), whether there is "insult and defamation" (such as using derogatory subtitles to reinforce negative images), and whether it "causes a decrease in social evaluation" (such as triggering large-scale negative comments).

2、 Contract signing is the key to legal protection throughout the entire process

In practice, many disputes arise from standard terms and vague agreements. The guest cooperation agreement should clarify the three core clauses of script authorization, crisis termination, and derivative rights;

For amateur participants, it is necessary to clearly inform them of the purpose, method, and scope of information use, allow them to withdraw their consent at any time, and allow them to confirm their rights item by item, rather than signing a general package of consent forms.

At the same time, content compliance should grasp the scale of gender issues, reasonable comments should be based on facts and without insulting expressions, commercial implantation should not be false advertising, and value orientation should be correct.

3、 Legal advice

To ensure the compliant development of her variety show, it is recommended to establish a three-level review mechanism covering the project initiation, recording, and editing stages; Implement reverse list management of personality rights in the contract, specifying prohibited content for use; Double protection of the rights and interests of ordinary people, in addition to informed consent forms, confidentiality agreements can also be signed; Promote the system of pre-approval forms for commercial implantation and strictly conduct audits in accordance with legal regulations; Develop legal contingency plans for dispute resolution.

The value of "her variety show" lies in allowing women's stories to be seen; But it's more about making these stories legally visible. When the camera focuses on the diverse lives of women, only by guarding the boundaries of the law can "her narrative" be both powerful and steady. After all, true 'female power' has always been built on respect for rules.

Industry · New Policies

1. On July 16, 2025, the Ministry of Public Security issued and implemented the "Opinions on cracking down on intellectual property crimes in accordance with the law and promoting high-quality development of services"

The Opinion clearly states that we must make precise efforts to protect technological innovation, deepen the special work of preventing and cracking down on commercial secret crimes, crack down on crimes that infringe on commercial secrets in accordance with the law, and help develop new quality productivity according to local conditions. We must make precise efforts to promote industrial development, crack down on infringement and counterfeiting crimes in the manufacturing, productive service, and consumer goods fields in accordance with the law, and promote the construction of a modern industrial system. We must make precise efforts to promote cultural prosperity, crack down on various types of infringement and piracy crimes in accordance with the law, and promote innovative development of the cultural industry. We must make precise efforts to safeguard people's livelihood and safety, crack down severely on multiple crimes in the food and drug field, counterfeit and shoddy crimes that endanger production and life safety in the fields of fire-fighting equipment, building materials, electrical equipment, etc., infringement crimes involving seed, fertilizer and other counterfeit products, as well as the crime of producing and selling counterfeit cigarettes in accordance with the law, and resolutely safeguard the life, health and safety of the people.

The Opinion proposes to improve the mode of cracking down on intellectual property crimes, implementing precise, deep, large-scale, and coordinated crackdowns, and enhancing the quality and efficiency of the entire process, all factors, and all chains of crackdowns. We need to promote proactive policing and preventive policing, establish and improve a normalized police enterprise contact service mechanism, and strengthen the precise supply of legal services. We should rely on mechanisms such as the construction of a strong intellectual property country, strengthen departmental cooperation and cooperation, and promote source control and comprehensive governance. We should focus on important milestones such as International Consumer Rights Day and World Intellectual Property Day to carry out legal publicity and education, and transform the concerns of enterprises and the public into the source of discovering problems and promoting work. To leverage the role of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, deepen international law enforcement cooperation, promote the improvement of the legal system for foreign-related intellectual property rights, and strengthen the protection of foreign-related intellectual property rights.

2. On July 11, 2025, the Network Audiovisual Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a "Management Tip" focusing on the current development status and existing problems of the micro drama industry

In the past two years, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has introduced a series of policy measures to guide micro dramas towards excellence, encourage innovative exploration of creative paradigms, dissemination methods, and business models, and achieved significant results. The problem of value orientation in micro dramas has been basically reversed, with continuous improvement in quality and sustained prosperity in the industry. This not only provides opportunities for artistic innovation for film and television practitioners, but also makes it possible for ordinary creators to express themselves through participating in the creation of audiovisual works. However, in recent times, a few vertical micro drama production agencies and broadcasting platforms have resorted to bizarre and risky tactics for so-called "hot products", showing signs of excessive entertainment. Some micro dramas even use the guise of artistic imagination to weave and deconstruct real life and logic arbitrarily, even childishly, immaturity, and anti intellectualism, which affects the good image established by the micro drama industry through joint efforts.

Artistic creation can subjectively construct real-life images, but it must be based on respect for the basic truth and logic of life. In order to maintain a good ecology of micro dramas and promote the stable and far-reaching development of the industry, radio and television management departments at all levels should fulfill their supervisory responsibilities. Market entities in the micro drama industry should fulfill their main responsibilities of broadcasting, production, and promotion, firmly adhere to the bottom line of artistic creation, and resolutely eliminate extreme "anti intellectual", "shocking", and "outrageous" character designs, plots, etc. At the same time, we will continue to activate the public's ability to create and innovate, open up specialized channels to discover and recommend high-quality micro dramas from native and other channels, broaden the types of micro drama themes, optimize platform algorithms, and create a diverse and colorful situation.

3. On May 20, 2025, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Private Economy" will be implemented to increase the protection of intellectual property rights

Article 33 stipulates that the state strengthens the protection of original innovation of private economic organizations and their operators. Strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights for innovative achievements, implement a punitive damages system for intellectual property infringement, and investigate and punish illegal activities such as trademark infringement, patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret infringement, counterfeiting and confusion in accordance with the law.

Strengthen regional and departmental cooperation in intellectual property protection, and provide private economic organizations with services such as rapid collaborative protection of intellectual property, diversified dispute resolution, assistance in safeguarding rights, as well as guidance and risk warning for overseas intellectual property disputes.