Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 62
November 11, 2020
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 11, 2020, is hereby promulgated and shall be implemented as of June 1, 2021
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on November 11, 2020, it is decided to amend the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China as follows:
I. The reference to "other organizations" in Articles 2, 9, 11, 16, 19 and 22 shall be amended to "unincorporated organizations".
The reference to "citizens" in Articles 9, 11, 16, 19 and 21 shall be amended to "natural persons".
II. The phrase "include works created in any of the following forms in the domain of literature, art, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering or technology" in Article 3 shall be amended to read "refer to intellectual creations with originality in the realm of literature, art or science that can be represented in a certain form, including".
Item 6 shall be amended to read: "6. Audio-visual works".
Item 9 shall be amended to read: "9. Other intellectual creations that meet the characteristics of works".
III. Article 4 shall be amended to read: "In exercising their rights, copyright owners and copyright-related rights holders shall not violate the Constitution and laws and shall not harm public interest. The State supervises and regulates the publication and dissemination of works in accordance with the law."
IV. Item 2 of Article 5 shall be amended to read: "2. Pure factual information".
V. The reference to "the administrative department for copyright of the State Council" in Article 7 and Article 28 shall be amended to "the State copyright authority".
The phrase "in charge of" in Article 7 shall be amended to read "responsible for", and the reference to "the administrative department for copyright of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government" shall be amended to "the local copyright authority at or above the county level".
VI. The phrase “After being authorized, a collective copyright management body may, in its own name, make rights claims for a copyright owner or copyright-related rights holder” in the first paragraph of Article 8 shall be amended to read "A collective copyright management body established under the law shall be a non-profit legal person, and may, after being authorized, make rights claims in its own name for a copyright owner or a copyright-related rights holder"; and the phrase "litigation or arbitration proceedings" shall be amended to read "litigation, arbitration or mediation proceedings".
Two paragraphs shall be inserted as the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof, which read: "A collective copyright management body shall collect royalties from users as authorized. The rates of royalties shall be negotiated and determined between the collective copyright management body and the representative of the users. Where the negotiations fail, an application for ruling may be made to the State copyright authority; and a lawsuit may be filed with a people's court if either party disagrees with the ruling; or a lawsuit may be directly filed with a people's court by either party.”
“A collective copyright management body shall regularly disclose to the public overall situations including the collection and transfer of royalties, withdrawal and use of management fees and the undistributed part of royalties and establish a system for enquiry of information on rights for right owners and users. The State copyright authority shall supervise and regulate collective copyright management bodies in accordance with the law. "
The second paragraph shall become the fourth paragraph and be amended to read: "The method of establishment, rights and obligations, collection and distribution of copyright royalties, and supervision and regulation of collective copyright management bodies shall be separately stipulated by the State Council."
VII. The word "digitization" shall be inserted after "recopying" in Item 5 of the first paragraph of Article 10.
Item 7 of the first paragraph thereof shall be amended to read: "7. The right of rental, i.e., the right to permit others to temporarily use the original copy or any reproduced copy of any audio-visual work or computer software, except where the computer software itself is not the main subject matter of the rental arrangement".
Item 11 and Item 12 of the first paragraph of the Article shall be amended to read: "11. The right of broadcasting, i.e., the right to communicate or relay a work to the public by wired or wireless means, and the right to communicate to the public through loudspeaker or any other analogous instrument transmitting the broadcast of a work by symbols, sounds or images, excluding the rights stipulated in item 12 of this paragraph”;
"12. The right of communication by information networks, i.e., the right to make a work available to the public by wired or wireless means so that the public can access the work at a place and time of their choice".
The references to "cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Item 10 of the first paragraph of Article 10, "cinematographic process or a process analogous to cinematography" in Item 13 thereof, "cinematization or a process analogous to cinematization" in Item 6 of Article 47, and "cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Article 53 shall be amended to "audio-visual work".
VIII. The fourth paragraph of Article 11 shall become the first paragraph of Article 12 and be amended to read: "The natural person, legal person or unincorporated organization named on a work as its author shall be the author of the work and have the corresponding rights to the said work, unless proven to the contrary."
Two paragraphs shall be inserted as the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof, which read: "Authors and other copyright owners may complete the registration of their works with a registration agency recognized by the State copyright authority.”
“The two preceding paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to copyright-related rights."
IX. Article 13 shall be renumbered as Article 14, and one paragraph shall be inserted as the second paragraph thereof, which reads: "The copyright in a work of joint authorship shall be exercised by the co-authors upon negotiation. Where the co-authors are unable to reach an agreement, no co-author shall unreasonably prevent the other party from exercising rights other than the right to transfer, license the exclusive use to another or pledge the copyright, provided that any gains therefrom shall be distributed reasonably among all co-authors."
X. One article shall be inserted as Article 16, which reads: "For the publication, performance or production of a sound and/or visual recording using a work created by adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement or compilation of a pre-existing work, the consent of the owner of copyright in the said work and the owner of copyright in the original work shall be obtained and remuneration paid."
XI. Article 15 shall be renumbered as Article 17 and amended to read: "The copyright in a cinematographic work or television drama work included in an audio-visual work shall be owned by the maker of the said word, but the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, lyricist, composer and other authors that created works for the making of the said work shall have the right of authorship to the said work, and have the right to obtain remuneration therefrom pursuant to the contract entered into between the author and the maker of the said work.”
“Ownership of the copyright in an audio-visual work other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to the agreement between the parties concerned; where there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear, the maker of the work shall own the copyright, provided that the author shall have the right of authorship to such work and the right to obtain remuneration therefrom.”
“Authors of a screenplay, musical work or any other work included in an audio-visual work which can be used separately from the said audio-visual work shall have the right to exercise the copyright in their work independently. "
XII. Article 16 shall be renumbered as Article 18, and the word “schematic diagrams" shall be inserted after "maps" in Item 1 of the second paragraph thereof.
An item shall be inserted as Item 2 of this second paragraph, which reads: "2. Works created by a staff member of a newspaper office, periodicals office, news agency, radio station or television station".
XIII. Article 18 shall be renumbered as Article 20 and amended to read: "The transfer of ownership in the original copy of a work shall not change the ownership of the copyright in the said work, provided that the owner of such original copy of the work shall have the right to exhibit such original copy of the work of fine art or work of photography.”
"Where the ownership in the original copy of an unpublished work of fine art or work of photography is transferred by its author to another person, the exhibition of such original copy of the work by the transferee shall not constitute an infringement of the author's right of publication."
XIV. Article 19 shall be renumbered as Article 21, and the phrase "transferred in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Succession" in the first paragraph thereof shall be amended to read “transferred in accordance with the law".
XV. Article 21 shall be renumbered as Article 23, and the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof shall be amended to read: "The right of publication for a work of a legal person or unincorporated organization, and a work created in the course of employment whose copyright (except for right of authorship) is enjoyed by the legal person or unincorporated organization, shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after completion of such work; the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date on which the work was first published, but if such work is not published within 50 years after its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law.
The right of publication for an audio-visual work shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after completion of such work; the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date on which the work was first published, but if such work is not published within 50 years after its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law."
XVI. Article 22 shall be renumbered as Article 24, and the phrase "or title" shall be inserted after the phrase "name" in the first paragraph; the phrase "and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner by virtue of this Law shall not be prejudiced" shall be amended to read "and the normal use of such work shall not be affected or the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner shall not be unreasonably harmed."
The phrase "current events" in Item (3) of the first paragraph shall be deleted.
The phrase "author" in Item (4) of the first paragraph shall be amended to read "copyright owner".
The phrase "adaptation, compilation, broadcasting" shall be inserted after the phrase "translation" in Item (6) of the first paragraph.
The phrase "cultural center" shall be inserted after the phrase "art gallery" in Item (8) of the first paragraph.
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Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 62
November 11, 2020
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 11, 2020, is hereby promulgated and shall be implemented as of June 1, 2021
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on November 11, 2020, it is decided to amend the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China as follows:
I. The reference to "other organizations" in Articles 2, 9, 11, 16, 19 and 22 shall be amended to "unincorporated organizations".
The reference to "citizens" in Articles 9, 11, 16, 19 and 21 shall be amended to "natural persons".
II. The phrase "include works created in any of the following forms in the domain of literature, art, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering or technology" in Article 3 shall be amended to read "refer to intellectual creations with originality in the realm of literature, art or science that can be represented in a certain form, including".
Item 6 shall be amended to read: "6. Audio-visual works".
Item 9 shall be amended to read: "9. Other intellectual creations that meet the characteristics of works".
III. Article 4 shall be amended to read: "In exercising their rights, copyright owners and copyright-related rights holders shall not violate the Constitution and laws and shall not harm public interest. The State supervises and regulates the publication and dissemination of works in accordance with the law."
IV. Item 2 of Article 5 shall be amended to read: "2. Pure factual information".
V. The reference to "the administrative department for copyright of the State Council" in Article 7 and Article 28 shall be amended to "the State copyright authority".
The phrase "in charge of" in Article 7 shall be amended to read "responsible for", and the reference to "the administrative department for copyright of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government" shall be amended to "the local copyright authority at or above the county level".
VI. The phrase “After being authorized, a collective copyright management body may, in its own name, make rights claims for a copyright owner or copyright-related rights holder” in the first paragraph of Article 8 shall be amended to read "A collective copyright management body established under the law shall be a non-profit legal person, and may, after being authorized, make rights claims in its own name for a copyright owner or a copyright-related rights holder"; and the phrase "litigation or arbitration proceedings" shall be amended to read "litigation, arbitration or mediation proceedings".
Two paragraphs shall be inserted as the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof, which read: "A collective copyright management body shall collect royalties from users as authorized. The rates of royalties shall be negotiated and determined between the collective copyright management body and the representative of the users. Where the negotiations fail, an application for ruling may be made to the State copyright authority; and a lawsuit may be filed with a people's court if either party disagrees with the ruling; or a lawsuit may be directly filed with a people's court by either party.”
“A collective copyright management body shall regularly disclose to the public overall situations including the collection and transfer of royalties, withdrawal and use of management fees and the undistributed part of royalties and establish a system for enquiry of information on rights for right owners and users. The State copyright authority shall supervise and regulate collective copyright management bodies in accordance with the law. "
The second paragraph shall become the fourth paragraph and be amended to read: "The method of establishment, rights and obligations, collection and distribution of copyright royalties, and supervision and regulation of collective copyright management bodies shall be separately stipulated by the State Council."
VII. The word "digitization" shall be inserted after "recopying" in Item 5 of the first paragraph of Article 10.
Item 7 of the first paragraph thereof shall be amended to read: "7. The right of rental, i.e., the right to permit others to temporarily use the original copy or any reproduced copy of any audio-visual work or computer software, except where the computer software itself is not the main subject matter of the rental arrangement".
Item 11 and Item 12 of the first paragraph of the Article shall be amended to read: "11. The right of broadcasting, i.e., the right to communicate or relay a work to the public by wired or wireless means, and the right to communicate to the public through loudspeaker or any other analogous instrument transmitting the broadcast of a work by symbols, sounds or images, excluding the rights stipulated in item 12 of this paragraph”;
"12. The right of communication by information networks, i.e., the right to make a work available to the public by wired or wireless means so that the public can access the work at a place and time of their choice".
The references to "cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Item 10 of the first paragraph of Article 10, "cinematographic process or a process analogous to cinematography" in Item 13 thereof, "cinematization or a process analogous to cinematization" in Item 6 of Article 47, and "cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Article 53 shall be amended to "audio-visual work".
VIII. The fourth paragraph of Article 11 shall become the first paragraph of Article 12 and be amended to read: "The natural person, legal person or unincorporated organization named on a work as its author shall be the author of the work and have the corresponding rights to the said work, unless proven to the contrary."
Two paragraphs shall be inserted as the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof, which read: "Authors and other copyright owners may complete the registration of their works with a registration agency recognized by the State copyright authority.”
“The two preceding paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to copyright-related rights."
IX. Article 13 shall be renumbered as Article 14, and one paragraph shall be inserted as the second paragraph thereof, which reads: "The copyright in a work of joint authorship shall be exercised by the co-authors upon negotiation. Where the co-authors are unable to reach an agreement, no co-author shall unreasonably prevent the other party from exercising rights other than the right to transfer, license the exclusive use to another or pledge the copyright, provided that any gains therefrom shall be distributed reasonably among all co-authors."
X. One article shall be inserted as Article 16, which reads: "For the publication, performance or production of a sound and/or visual recording using a work created by adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement or compilation of a pre-existing work, the consent of the owner of copyright in the said work and the owner of copyright in the original work shall be obtained and remuneration paid."
XI. Article 15 shall be renumbered as Article 17 and amended to read: "The copyright in a cinematographic work or television drama work included in an audio-visual work shall be owned by the maker of the said word, but the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, lyricist, composer and other authors that created works for the making of the said work shall have the right of authorship to the said work, and have the right to obtain remuneration therefrom pursuant to the contract entered into between the author and the maker of the said work.”
“Ownership of the copyright in an audio-visual work other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to the agreement between the parties concerned; where there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear, the maker of the work shall own the copyright, provided that the author shall have the right of authorship to such work and the right to obtain remuneration therefrom.”
“Authors of a screenplay, musical work or any other work included in an audio-visual work which can be used separately from the said audio-visual work shall have the right to exercise the copyright in their work independently. "
XII. Article 16 shall be renumbered as Article 18, and the word “schematic diagrams" shall be inserted after "maps" in Item 1 of the second paragraph thereof.
An item shall be inserted as Item 2 of this second paragraph, which reads: "2. Works created by a staff member of a newspaper office, periodicals office, news agency, radio station or television station".
XIII. Article 18 shall be renumbered as Article 20 and amended to read: "The transfer of ownership in the original copy of a work shall not change the ownership of the copyright in the said work, provided that the owner of such original copy of the work shall have the right to exhibit such original copy of the work of fine art or work of photography.”
"Where the ownership in the original copy of an unpublished work of fine art or work of photography is transferred by its author to another person, the exhibition of such original copy of the work by the transferee shall not constitute an infringement of the author's right of publication."
XIV. Article 19 shall be renumbered as Article 21, and the phrase "transferred in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Succession" in the first paragraph thereof shall be amended to read “transferred in accordance with the law".
XV. Article 21 shall be renumbered as Article 23, and the second paragraph and the third paragraph thereof shall be amended to read: "The right of publication for a work of a legal person or unincorporated organization, and a work created in the course of employment whose copyright (except for right of authorship) is enjoyed by the legal person or unincorporated organization, shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after completion of such work; the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date on which the work was first published, but if such work is not published within 50 years after its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law.
The right of publication for an audio-visual work shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after completion of such work; the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date on which the work was first published, but if such work is not published within 50 years after its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law."
XVI. Article 22 shall be renumbered as Article 24, and the phrase "or title" shall be inserted after the phrase "name" in the first paragraph; the phrase "and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner by virtue of this Law shall not be prejudiced" shall be amended to read "and the normal use of such work shall not be affected or the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner shall not be unreasonably harmed."
The phrase "current events" in Item (3) of the first paragraph shall be deleted.
The phrase "author" in Item (4) of the first paragraph shall be amended to read "copyright owner".
The phrase "adaptation, compilation, broadcasting" shall be inserted after the phrase "translation" in Item (6) of the first paragraph.
The phrase "cultural center" shall be inserted after the phrase "art gallery" in Item (8) of the first paragraph.
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