The National Copyright Administration and National Development Reform Commission have jointly released the Measures for the Remuneration Payment for the Use of Written Works (the "Measures"), with effect from November 1, 2014.
The Measures clarify the criteria and calculating methods for royalty rate, basic remuneration and printing remuneration. Under the Measures, the basic remuneration of an original work shall be increased to CNY80 to CNY300/thousand words from the original CNY30 to CNY80/thousand words set forth in the Remuneration Provisions on the Publishing of Written Works (1999 Version), while the royalty rate of original works remains at 3% to 10%. All the works published in newspapers and periodicals shall be subject to one-off remuneration. When an unpublished work is published in a newspaper or periodical, the newspaper or periodical shall pay the remuneration to the copyright owner according to a standard of no less than CNY100/thousand words within one month from the publishing. If the work to be published is less than 500 words, the remuneration shall be calculated as that for 500 words; and if the work to be published is more than 500 words but less than 1,000 words, the remuneration shall be calculated as that for 1,000 words.