Over 3,600 public cultural and sports events in Shenzhen Bao'an this summer: What legal risks should event organizers and participants be aware of?
During the summer of 2026, the Bao'an District Public Cultural and Sports Service Center in Shenzhen coordinated libraries, cultural centers, art museums, museums, sports venues, and other facilities, carrying out a total of over 3,600 activities that served more than 370,000 residents, spanning fields such as culture, sports, technology, and tourism. From reading check-ins at libraries to the cheers of competitions at sports venues, from AI guitar experiences to research summer camps at museums, this two-month cultural and sports feast not only enriched residents' summer lives but also raised a series of legal considerations: What legal obligations must organizers of large-scale public events bear? How can participants protect their own rights and interests? Lawyers from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, drawing on the Civil Code, the Copyright Law, the Personal Information Protection Law, and other legal provisions, provided a professional analysis of the legal risks and compliance points involved.
Security Obligations for Large-Scale Public Events: How Does the Law Define the Boundaries of Liability?
Bao'an District's summer activities cover various types including sports events, cultural performances, and exhibitions, with single-event participation ranging from dozens to thousands of people. According to Article 1198 of the Civil Code, operators or managers of business premises and public places such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, sports venues, and entertainment venues, or organizers of mass activities, who fail to fulfill their safety protection obligations and cause harm to others, shall bear tort liability.
Specifically for this summer event, each China League One match hosted at the sports venues attracted about 5,000 fans, the museum's scheduled guided tours ran 4 sessions daily for 30 consecutive days, and the library's reading activities reached over 200,000 participants. These activities all fall under mass events, and the organizers are required to fulfill safety assurance obligations in the following aspects: first, venue safety, ensuring that facilities and equipment meet safety standards and that evacuation routes remain unobstructed; second, personnel safety, deploying sufficient safety management staff and medical emergency response teams; third, emergency plans, developing detailed response protocols for potential emergencies.
In judicial practice, courts consider factors such as the nature, scale, and degree of risk of the activity when determining whether the duty of safety protection has been fulfilled. For example, in sporting events, organizers must not only meet general safety obligations but also account for the inherent risks of the sport itself and provide necessary risk warnings to participants. Lawyers at Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm remind event organizers to purchase appropriate public liability insurance to spread risk, while also ensuring that complete security records and evidence are retained during event preparation and execution, so as to be able to prove that reasonable duty of care has been fulfilled in the event of a dispute.
Intellectual Property Protection in Event Broadcasting and Performance Activities: A Legal Red Line That Cannot Be Overlooked
Sports events and commercial concerts during summer activities involve a large number of intellectual property issues. In the 2026 season, four home matches of the China League One were held at Bao'an Stadium, with artists such as Lang Lang, R.E.D, and Huan Zi taking the stage to perform. These activities all involve multiple intellectual property rights, including copyright, performers' rights, and broadcasting organizations' rights.
Under the relevant provisions of the Copyright Law, sports events themselves are not protected by copyright law, but the camera and photographic works, broadcast signals, and event data during the events may constitute objects protected by copyright or neighboring rights. When event organizers use relevant materials in broadcasting, promotion, and publicity, they need to obtain authorization and permission from the rights holders. For commercial concerts, performers enjoy performer's rights, and unauthorized recording or dissemination of performance content may constitute infringement.
Additionally, materials used by event organizers in promotional efforts, such as posters, promotional videos, and social media posts, also require attention to copyright issues. When Bao'an District Library promoted the "Bao Read Poetry and Books · 21-Day Check-in Challenge," the related posts garnered over 16,000 reads, and the creation and use of associated images and text content should ensure no infringement on others' copyrights. A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm suggested that event organizers should establish an intellectual property compliance review mechanism, clarifying the sources of materials and the scope of authorization during the event planning stage, to avoid disputes arising from copyright issues after the event concludes.
Personal Information Protection and Data Compliance: The Legal Boundaries Behind Technological Empowerment
A major highlight of this summer program is the integration of technology: the cultural center offers AI guitar experience classes, the library sets up AI Go equipment, sports venues introduce AI-powered smart exercise prescription activities, and the Migrant Workers Museum innovates with a "live streaming + museum" model. While these technological applications enhance the experience, they also bring new challenges in personal information protection and data compliance.
In accordance with the provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law, the processing of personal information shall follow the principles of legality, legitimacy, necessity, and good faith, with clear disclosure of the purpose, methods, and scope of processing. When event organizers collect participants' personal information, such as registration details, health data, and exercise data, they shall obtain individuals' consent and adopt necessary security protection measures. In particular, AI-powered smart exercise prescription experience activities involve the collection and processing of personal health data, which constitutes sensitive personal information, requiring separate consent from individuals and notification of the purpose and methods of processing.
In practice, some event organizers over-collect personal information and use it beyond the necessary scope when gathering data. For example, when hosting a parent-child fun run, they may collect participants' ID card numbers, home addresses, and other information unrelated to the event. A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm reminds that event organizers should adhere to the principle of "minimum necessity," collecting only the information essential to achieve the event's purpose, and establish a personal information security management system to prevent leaks, tampering, or loss of data. When entrusting third parties to process personal information, they should sign a data processing agreement with the entrusted party, clearly defining the rights and obligations of both sides.
How Can Event Participants Protect Their Rights in Accordance with the Law: A Practical Legal Guide
For citizens participating in summer activities, understanding their rights and the channels for rights protection is equally important. During participation in these activities, issues such as personal injury, property loss, and leakage of personal information may arise, and participants should know how to safeguard their rights through legal means.
If personal injury occurs during an activity, participants should preserve evidence as soon as possible, including on-site photos, videos, medical records, and contact information of witnesses, and promptly report the situation to the event organizers. Under the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, if the event organizers fail to fulfill their duty of safety protection, participants have the right to hold them liable for tort. At the same time, participants should also note that when engaging in sports activities with inherent risks, the principle of assumption of risk may affect the determination of liability. Article 1176 of the Civil Code stipulates that if a person voluntarily participates in cultural or sports activities with certain risks and suffers harm due to the conduct of another participant, the victim may not request that other participant to bear tort liability; however, this does not apply if the other participant caused the harm intentionally or through gross negligence.
Regarding the protection of personal information, if participants discover that their personal information has been leaked or misused, they may report it to the cyberspace administration authorities or public security authorities, and may also file a lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law. For consumer disputes arising during the event, such as the cancellation or change of a performance after purchasing tickets, participants may assert their rights in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law.
The successful hosting of summer activities in Bao'an District showcases the vitality and innovation of Shenzhen's public cultural and sports services. Against the backdrop of rising activity numbers and participant turnout, the importance of legal risk prevention and compliance management has become increasingly prominent. As a local Shenzhen law firm, Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has long focused on legal practices in the public cultural and sports sector, offering professional legal services to event organizers, including activity compliance reviews, safety guarantee system design, and intellectual property protection plans, as well as legal consultations for participants on issues such as infringement claims and contract disputes. While enjoying the rich and diverse public cultural and sports services, both organizers and participants should strengthen their legal awareness and work together to create a safe, orderly, and lawful activity environment.
