The term 'works' as referred to in article 3 of the Copyright Law means intellectual creations with originality in the literary, artistic or scientific domain, insofar as they can be reproduced in a tangible form. Moreover, the Copyright Law clearly lists the following types of works to be protected:

• written works;

• oral works;

• musical, dramatic, quyi, choreographic and acrobatic works;

• fine art and architectural works;

• photographic works;

• audio-visual works;

• graphic works including engineering design drawings, product design drawings, maps, and schematic drawings, etc, as well as model works;

• computer software; and

• other intellectual creations in line with the characteristics of the work.

The latest amendment to the Copyright Law introduced two important changes to the classification of protected works. First, the traditional 'cinematographic work and work created by means similar to cinematography' was replaced by 'audio-visual works', which was treated as a breakthrough to leave more space for new video-type works. However, the precise definition of 'audiovisual works' remains undefined, and the distinct category of 'video recordings' persists, leaving uncertainty about the practical implications of this reclassification. Second, the law significantly broadened the scope of uncategorised works. Previously, the catch-all provision for 'other works' was restrictively limited to 'works stipulated by laws and administrative regulations', but no such regulations set new work types. Consequently, any new types of works had to be explained to fit in one of the existing works. The revised law removed the limitation, now extending protection to any intellectual creation in line with the characteristics of the work. While this expansion benefits rights holders of innovative works, it simultaneously poses challenges for courts in adjudicating what qualifies as other works. In some local courts, the judges were seen interpreting the catch-all provision to hold that certain online games are qualified as 'new type of works' to justify the protection of game rules and designs, causing significant controversies.

The Copyright Law only protects works created by human being. Content that is entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI) without any human creative input is generally not recognised as a work and therefore cannot be granted copyright protection. However, at least based on some court decisions and scholars’ research, it is believed that if there is human being’s creative input, copyright protection may be available based on the creation process and the extent of such input. Where a human has made selections, edits, modifications or substantial creative contributions in the process of AI generation, the generated content may be recognised as a work. The human creator's creative labour is thus protected by copyright.

In practice, Chinese courts have been making different judgments on this issue recently, without a unified standard yet. In the judgments affirming copyrightability, the courts, including Beijing Internet Court, viewed AI as an advanced 'tool' or 'paintbrush' and held that the plaintiff had made sufficient individualised choices and adjustments to the prompts during the AI generation process, reflecting human intellectual input, so the image was protected by copyright. However, in the latest judgment made in May 2025, the court in Jiangsu province denied the copyrightability essentially based on the randomness and non-repeatability of AI generation, where the actual output is unpredictable, not controlled by human will.

The term 'copyright' shall include the following personality rights and property rights:

• the right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether to make a work available to the public;

• the right of authorship, that is, the right to claim authorship and to have the author's name mentioned in connection with the work;

• the right of alteration, that is, the right to alter or authorise others to alter one's work;

• the right of integrity, that is, the right to protect one's work against distortion and mutilation;

• the right of reproduction, that is, the right to produce one or more copies of a work by printing, photocopying, lithographing, making a sound recording or video recording, duplicating a recording, or duplicating a photographic work or by any other means;

• the right of distribution, that is, the right to make available to the public the original or reproductions of a work through sale or other transfer of ownership;

• the right of rental, that is, the right to authorise, with payment, others to temporarily use cinematographic works, works created by virtue of an analogous method of film production, and computer software, except any computer software that is not the main subject matter of rental;

• the right of exhibition, that is, the right to publicly display the original or reproduction of a work of fine art and photography;

• the right of performance, that is, the right to publicly perform a work and publicly broadcast the performance of a work by various means;

• the right of showing, that is, the right to show to the public a work, of fine art, photography, cinematography and any work created by analogous methods of film production through film projectors, over-head projectors or any other technical devices;

• the right of broadcasting, that is, the right to publicly broadcast or disseminate works by wired or wireless means, and to disseminate broadcast works to the public by audio amplifier or other similar instruments for transmission of signs, sounds or images, excluding the right as prescribed in item 12 of this paragraph;

• the right of communication of information on networks, that is, the right to provide works that may be obtained by the public at the time and place selected by the public by wired or wireless means;

• the right of making cinematographic work, that is, the right to fixate a work on a carrier by way of film production or by virtue of an analogous method of film production;

• the right of adaptation, that is, the right to change a work to create a new work of originality;

• the right of translation, that is, the right to translate a work in one language into one in another language;

• the right of compilation, that is, the right to compile works or parts of works into a new work by reason of the selection or arrangement; and

• any other rights a copyright owner is entitled to enjoy.

The Copyright Law provides a comprehensive list of exceptions rather than a general clause for 'fair use doctrine', and it is based on the statutory law. However, court judgments may also provide interpretations of the key terms in the fair use provisions in the law.

According to the Copyright Law, a work can be used in the following ways without licence or payment:

• use of another person’s published work for the user’s own personal study, research or appreciation;

• appropriate quotation from another person’s published work for introducing or commenting on the work, or explaining a certain point;

• unavoidable inclusion or quotation of a published work;

• publishing or rebroadcasting on current political, economic or religious topics by the media, unless the right holder declares that is not permitted;

• publishing or broadcasting a speech delivered at a public gathering by the media, unless the author declares that is not permitted;

• translation, adaptation, compilation, broadcast or reproduction in a small quantity of copies by teachers or scientific researchers for use in classroom teaching or scientific research;

• use of a published work by a state organ to a justifiable extent for the purpose of fulfilling its official duties;

• reproduction of a work in its collections by a library, archive, memorial hall, museum, art gallery, cultural centres, etc, for the purpose of display or preservation of the work;

• gratuitous live performance of a published work, for which no fees are charged to the public, no payments are made to the performers, nor for the purposes of profit-making;

• copying, drawing, photographing or video-recording of a work displayed in an outdoor public place;

• translation of a published work of a Chinese citizen, legal entity or other unincorporated organisations from the standard Chinese language into minority nationality languages for publication and distribution in the country;

• providing a published work to a person with dyslexia in a way that is accessible to him or her; and

• any other circumstances stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.

In addition, in compiling and publishing textbooks for the state compulsory education programme or other educational programmes, passages of published works, short writing works, music works or single copies of painting works or photographic works or graphic works may be compiled into the textbooks without the licence of copyright owners. The 2021 amendment to Copyright Law no longer allows copyright holders to forbid such use through declaration in advance. However, compensation shall be paid to the copyright owner and the author's name and the work's title shall be indicated. The 2021 amendment to Copyright Law further require that the 'fair use' shall not influence the normal use of the work and shall not unreasonably damage the author’s rights.

Under the Copyright Law, certain categories of works are explicitly excluded from copyright protection. Article 5 specifies that laws, regulations, government resolutions, judicial decisions and other official documents together with their formal translations are not protected, as they are considered public domain materials for societal use. Similarly, pure factual news reports and general-purpose tools, such as calendars, basic mathematical formulas, and standard tables, are also excluded. And, according to article 2 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law, copyright only protects original expression, not underlying ideas, procedures, or methods.

Notably, the older version of the Copyright Law denied protection to works of which the publication or dissemination is prohibited by law. Such provision was challenged by United States through World Trade Organization (WTO) proceedings in 2007 as American movies or recordings that failed to receive market entry licence would not be entitled to copyright protection in China. As a result of the WTO challenge, China changed its article 4 to drop such prohibition.

'Fair use' refers to the use of others’ works under circumstances permitted by law, without the need to obtain permission from the copyright owner or pay them remuneration. The Copyright Law adopts a closed-list legislative approach supplemented by a catch-all clause, specifically enumerating 12 types of fair use situations, such as using published works of others for personal study, research or appreciation, or making appropriate quotations from published works of others for the purpose of introducing or commenting on a work, or explaining an issue, among others. In addition, a catch-all clause is added: 'other circumstances stipulated by laws and administrative regulations'. At the same time, it is clearly stipulated that such use 'shall not affect the normal use of the work and shall not unreasonably harm the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner'.

In practice, Chinese judicial practice mainly follows the three-step test for fair use as provided in the Berne Convention, with specific considerations including:

• fair use can only be made in certain special cases, such as for personal study, research, appreciation, or news reporting;

• fair use must not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work; and

• it must not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the rights holder.

At the same time, it is also influenced by the US standard of transformative use, under which the following factors are considered: (1) the nature and purpose of the use; (2) the nature of the work being used; (3)the amount and substantiality of the portion used; and (4) the effect of the use on the potential market or value of the work.

Architectural works refer to buildings, structures, or designs that are original and created by architects or designers. This can include drawings, plans, blueprints and the constructed building itself if it embodies original design. According to article 3 of the Copyright Law, architectural works are explicitly listed as works protected by copyright. The aspect of architectural works that should be protected is the external form or appearance of the building or structure, while the construction materials used and the techniques applied during construction are not protected. After a building is completed, even if the same construction materials and techniques as others are used, as long as the appearance is different, there will be no infringement of another person's copyright. However, if different materials are used but the appearance is very similar to another building, it may constitute an infringement of the copyright in that architectural work. The protected part of an architectural work is the original expression, and this expression must not be a form that is necessarily required by its function or one of only a limited number of forms that can fulfil that function. In reality, many buildings or structures do not qualify as works for this reason; even if they do, only those parts that embody artistic and original expression are protected. Several cases involving architectural works were adjudicated in Chinese courts, including the recent one in 2024 by the Inner Mongolia High People’s Court recognising the copyright protection of the iconic Meike Wedding building.

China distinguishes the right of performance and performers’ rights. Performance rights are covered by copyright, while performer’s rights are regarded as one of neighbouring rights in the Copyright Law.

The right of performance is the right to publicly perform a work and publicly broadcast the performance of a work by various means, such as playing musical works and performing dramatic works.

For performers’ rights, moral rights owned by performers include right to state the identity, right to protect the image of the performance from distortion. Economic rights owned by performers include right to receive remuneration through licensing others to make live broadcast and public transmission of a live performance, licensing others to make audio-visual recording, licensing others to replicate, distribute or lease audio-visual recordings that contain the performance, and licensing others to transmit the performance to the public through information network. There is no restriction for the duration of moral rights, while economic rights are protected for 50 years from when the performance is made.

Neighbouring rights refer to the rights related to copyright, that is, the rights enjoyed by disseminators of works. Except to the performer’s rights, there are several other neighbouring rights in the Copyright Law as follows:

• Publishers’ Rights: These refer to the exclusive right of publishers to use the layout design of books and periodicals they publish. It also includes the exclusive right to publish, as agreed in contracts, and the right to make textual modifications to the work with the author’s consent. These rights are mainly stipulated in articles 33, 36 and 37 of the Copyright Law.

• Rights of Producers of Sound Recordings and Video Recordings: According to article 44 of the Copyright Law, producers of sound and video recordings have the right to permit others to reproduce, distribute, rent and make available their sound and video recordings to the public via information networks, and to receive remuneration for such uses. The term of protection for these rights is 50 years, expiring on 31 December of the fiftieth year after the first production of the recording.

• Rights of Broadcasting Organisations: This refers to the exclusive rights enjoyed by radio and television stations over the broadcasts and television programmes (or signals, depending on legal doctrine) they transmit. Broadcasting organisations have the right to prohibit others from using their broadcast television programmes (or signals) without permission. These rights are mainly stipulated in article 47 of the Copyright Law.

China provides strong protection for moral rights, imposing no time limitation on the protection period and forbidding the owners from transferring, licensing or waiving moral rights. According to article 10 of the Copyright Law, moral rights include four core rights:

• the right of publication, which is the right to decide whether to make the work available to the public;

• the right of attribution, which is the right to be identified as the author and to have one’s name indicated on the work;

• the right of revision, which is the right to revise the work or to authorise others to do so; and

• the right to protect the work integrity, which is the right to prevent distortion or mutilation of the work.

  
  

In China, there is no legal requirement to use a copyright notice on a work in order to obtain copyright protection. Copyright arises automatically when an original work is created and fixed in a tangible form. However, right holders may optionally include a copyright notice (such as '© [year] [author’s name]') to indicate ownership and deter infringement.

Failure to use a copyright notice does not affect the existence or validity of copyright protection in China. The absence of a notice does not result in the loss of rights or legal penalties. However, including a copyright notice can serve as evidence of ownership and may help prevent unintentional infringement by informing the public that the work is protected. Without a notice, it may be slightly more challenging to prove ownership or to show that an alleged infringer acted knowingly, but copyright protection remains intact regardless.

In China, there is no mandatory requirement for copyright deposit in order for a work to be protected by copyright. Copyright protection is automatically granted upon the completion and fixation of an original work. Authors or right holders may choose to voluntarily register or deposit their works with authorised copyright registration agencies. Such registration can serve as preliminary evidence of ownership in the case of disputes, but it is not a prerequisite for obtaining copyright protection.

Since copyright protection arises automatically upon creation and does not depend on registration or deposit, failure to make a copyright deposit does not result in the loss of copyright or any legal penalties. However, if a copyright holder does not deposit or register their work, they might face difficulties in proving ownership or the date of creation in the event of a dispute or legal proceedings. Voluntary deposit or registration can provide supporting evidence but is not compulsory under Chinese law. In practice, to avoid disputes over the date of creation and ownership, it may be advisable to create online copy of works through specialised service such as online notary service deploying blockchain technologies.

Yes. The application for copyright registration shall be submitted to the China Copyright Protection Center. The typical application process is:

• Preparation of Materials: The applicant needs to prepare the following materials, which usually include:

• copyright registration application form;

• the applicant’s identification documents (such as a copy of ID card, business licence, etc);

• a sample of the work (can be in paper or electronic format, depending on the type of work);

• a description of the work (briefly explaining the content and the creation process);

• proof of ownership documents (if there are co-authors, commissioned works, or works for hire, relevant proof needs to be provided).

• Online Submission or On-site Submission: The applicant can submit the application online through the official website of the China Copyright Protection Center, or go to the local copyright registration authority to submit the paper materials in person.

• Payment of Registration Fees: Pay the relevant registration fees according to the fee schedule published by the China Copyright Protection Center.

• Formal Examination: The copyright registration authority will conduct a formal examination of the application materials, mainly to check whether the materials are complete, properly filled out, and whether the content of the work falls within the registration scope.

• Acceptance and Review: After passing the examination, the registration authority will officially accept the application and further review the ownership and registration content of the work.

• Issuance of Certificate: Upon approval, the copyright registration authority will issue a Certificate of Copyright Registration. The applicant can receive the certificate by mail or collect it in person.

Copyright registration in China is voluntary rather than mandatory. While works do not need to be registered to be protected, obtaining a copyright registration can be very helpful in practice. Registration serves as prima facie evidence of ownership and can facilitate the resolution of copyright disputes, especially in enforcement proceedings such as online taking-down actions. However, if the validity of the copyright is challenged in court, judges usually require the right holder to provide additional evidence of ownership. Such challenges have become increasingly common, so it is advisable for right holders to retain original evidence of creation in addition to any registration certificates.

The fees for copyright registration are determined by the type of work being registered, ranging from 200 to 500 yuan per single work. However, an exception exists for software, which is eligible for copyright registration at no charge.

Whether or not a work is published or registered, Chinese citizens, companies, other organisations and qualified foreign individuals or organisations are entitled to copyright protection for their works under the law. The copyright lawfully obtained by an author or other copyright owner remains valid and unaffected by the act of registration. For practical reasons, if the budget allows, it is always advisable to prepare registrations in the case of copyright disputes. There is an increase amount of dispute as to the authenticity of works and the date of creation. When applicable, manuscripts or other proof of original creation should be advised for copyright registration.

In general, the creator of a copyrightable work shall be the author, who owns the copyrighted work. Such creator may be a citizen, a company or an organisation.

Under article 16 of the Copyright Law, works created by an employee to fulfil tasks assigned by employers are considered 'works created in the course of employment'. As a general rule, the copyright in such works belongs to the employee, while the employer retains a priority right to use the work within its business scope. For two years after completion, the employee may not license third parties to use the work in the same manner as the employer without the employer's consent. However, two exceptional circumstances exist where the employer holds all copyrights except the employee's moral right of attribution, and may grant rewards to the employee:

• works principally created using the employer's material and technical resources and for which the employer assumes responsibility, including engineering designs, product designs, maps and computer software; and

• works where laws, administrative regulations or contractual agreements expressly assign copyright ownership to the employer. This framework balances employee authorship rights with organisational interests in work-related creations.

Typically, a hiring party does not automatically own the copyright to a work created by an independent contractor. By default, the independent creator or contractor is regarded as the original copyright owner unless an agreement specifies otherwise. To obtain the ownership, the hiring party must sign a written agreement with the independent contractor, explicitly indicating that the copyright is owned by the hiring party originally. The parties may also agree to transfer the copyright to the hiring party. However, in this case, the hiring party cannot own the complete copyright because moral rights cannot be transferred.

Where a work is created jointly by two or more co-authors, the copyright in the work shall be enjoyed jointly by those co-authors. If a co-owned work can be separated into independent parts and exploited separately, each co-author may be entitled to independent copyright in the parts that he or she has created, provided that the exercise of such copyright shall not prejudice the copyright in the joint work as a whole.

There are no specific measures in the Copyright Law provided to identify each individual contribution to the work. However, it is provided that where a jointly created work may not be divided for separate use, the copyright in the work shall be exercised according to a consensus reached through consultation. If no consensus has been reached, nor has a justified reason been provided, none of the parties shall prevent the other(s) from exercising a right other than the transfer right, exclusive licence and pledge, provided that the royalties shall be reasonably distributed to all the co-authors.

The situation varies based on different kinds of rights. Economic rights, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, among others, can be transferred in whole or in part. The transfer must be made through a written contract, which should specify the type of rights transferred, the duration, the geographical scope, the amount of remuneration and other relevant terms.

Moral rights, such as the right of attribution and right to protect work integrity among others, cannot be transferred, licensed or waived. These rights remain with the author even if the economic rights are transferred. In the event of death of a citizen who owns the copyright of a work, the economic rights shall be transferred to his successors.

There are some special requirements for co-owned work. The economic rights in a joint work are co-owned by all the authors. Unless otherwise agreed, the transfer of economic rights in a joint work requires the unanimous consent of all the co-authors. No single co-author can transfer the economic rights of the entire work independently. The moral rights of each co-author remain with the individual author and cannot be transferred. However, the exercise of certain moral rights (such as the right of publication) may also require the consent of all co-authors. If the contributions of the authors can be separated and used independently, each author may transfer the rights to their own part separately, provided the use does not infringe upon the rights of the other authors.

In China, the economic rights in copyright can be licensed, but not the moral rights. The copyright owner has the right to license all or part of their copyright to others. Licences can be exclusive, sole, or non-exclusive. Licensing is primarily governed by written contract, which should specify key terms such as the scope of rights, duration, territory, method of use and licence fees. Registration of the licence contract is optional, not compulsory, which can publicly disclose the licence status and provide an official record managed by the copyright registration authority. Copyright licence can be complicated as the scope of licence largely depends on the commercial context, invoking the licence of various aspects of the copyright.

In China, the economic rights in copyright can be licensed, but not the moral rights. The copyright owner has the right to license all or part of their copyright to others. Licences can be exclusive, sole, or non-exclusive. Licensing is primarily governed by written contract, which should specify key terms such as the scope of rights, duration, territory, method of use and licence fees. Registration of the licence contract is optional, not compulsory, which can publicly disclose the licence status and provide an official record managed by the copyright registration authority. Copyright licence can be complicated as the scope of licence largely depends on the commercial context, invoking the licence of various aspects of the copyright.

The Copyright Law does not establish a strict 'compulsory licence' system. Instead, it provides a similar legal framework known as a 'statutory licence' Under this system, users may utilise certain copyrighted works without obtaining prior permission from the copyright holder, provided they pay remuneration to the rights owner, indicate the names of the owner and the work. For example, this applies to the inclusion of excerpts from published works, short written works, musical works or single pieces of fine art, photos or graphic works in compiled textbooks used for state educational purposes.

Rights holders have the option to delegate certain copyrights to collective management organisations to facilitate the licensing process. The Music Copyright Society of China administers licences for public performance, broadcasting and reproduction rights on behalf of lyricists and composers. This enables legal use of musical works in settings such as concerts, radio, television and online platforms. The China Audio-Video Copyright Association specialises in licensing audio-visual records of music, particularly for use as background music in karaoke, online platforms and physical venues. The China Written Works Copyright Society manages the licensing of various copyrights for written works, covering areas such as publication, broadcasting and digital exploitation. Participation in these collective management organisations is voluntary. In practice, many rights holders choose not to join these societies and instead manage licensing either independently or through commercial partners.

The law does not stipulate a time limit for copyright transfers. The termination of copyright transfers may be based on contractual agreement, mutual consent between both parties, statutory termination of the contract, force majeure, invalidity of the contract or the expiration of the copyright protection period, among other reasons.

In China, there is no mandatory requirement for filing copyright transfer agreements or related transaction documents with any government administrative body. In legal practice, there is also no compulsory government registration system for copyright transactions similar to real estate registration.

In principle, copyright license contracts do not require mandatory registration. However, for the purposes of rights protection and to defend against good-faith acquisition by third parties, copyright owners or licensees may voluntarily file and register the contract with the China Copyright Protection Center. To complete the filing and registration, documents such as the licence contract, identification of the applicant, and a sample of the work usually need to be submitted. The process generally takes about 30 working days.

In China, copyright protection begins automatically from the moment a work is created and fixed in a tangible form. For example, when a work is expressed in a certain medium that makes reproduction possible, such as writing, recording or drawing, the copyright protection begins. There is no need for registration or publication for copyright to arise.

Under the Copyright Law, the rights of attribution, revision and work integrity are protected permanently without any time restriction. In contrast, the protection term for publication rights is limited to 50 years after an author's death if the copyright is owned by an individual, or 50 years after the work's completion if the owner is a company or organisation. Consequently, if a work is not published within this time frame, its economic rights may no longer be protected.

Upon the author's death, moral rights are safeguarded by the author's heir or legatee. Among these moral rights, the heir or legatee can exercise publication rights within 50 years of the author's death, provided the author did not oppose this possibility. If there is no heir or legatee, the moral rights will be protected by the copyright administration authorities.

The duration of economic rights varies based on the type of copyrighted work and the original author, as detailed below:

• For an individual's work, the economic rights are protected for the author's lifetime plus 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the author's death. In the case of a jointly created work, the protection ends on 31 December of the 50th year after the death of the last surviving author.

• For works created by a company or organisation or works for hire where copyrights vest in a company or organisation, the protection term is 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the work's first publication.

• For audio-visual works, the economic rights are protected for 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the work's first publication.

Yes, in China, the duration of copyright protection largely depends on when a work was created or published. For most works, the protection term extends for the life of the author plus an additional 50 years. This period begins from the date of the author's death in the case of a single author, or from the date of the last surviving co-author's death if it involves joint authorship. For works owned by companies or organisations, as well as audio-visual works, photographic works and certain other types, the protection term lasts for 50 years, commencing from the work's first publication date.

Copyright protection is automatic once a work is created and fixed in a tangible form. There is no need for renewal to maintain the protection for the statutory period. Once this period expires, the copyright cannot be renewed and the work typically enters the public domain.

China has not extended the term of copyright protection. The Copyright Law, which was last amended on 1 June 2021, did not alter the duration of copyright protection, where the terms are consistent with China’s commitment to international copyright agreements such as the Berne Convention.

Notably, China has applied to join Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, in which the term of copyright protection can be up to 70 years. China’s latest moves indicate its willingness to extend its copyright protection term.

The Copyright Law clarifies many different kinds of infringement, including several scenarios as below:

• publishing a work without the copyright owner's authorisation;

• publishing a work jointly created with others as a work solely created by oneself, without the other joint author(s)' authorisation;

• affixing one's name to another's work for one's own fame and profit, without participating in the creation thereof;

• distorting or falsifying another's work;

• plagiarising another's work;

• using a work, without the copyright owner's authorisation, through exhibition or production of audio-visual works, or in ways such as adaptation, translation or annotation, unless otherwise specified in this law;

• using another's work without paying remuneration that is due and payable;

• renting out original or copies of the audio and video works, computer software, or a sound or visual recording, without the authorisation of the copyright owner(s) or copyright-related right owner(s), unless otherwise specified in this law;

• using the layout of a book or periodical published by a publisher, without the publisher's authorisation;

• live broadcasting or publicly transmitting a performer's live performance, or recording the performance without the performer's authorisation; or

• reproducing, distributing, performing, projecting, broadcasting or compiling a work, or disseminating the work to the public via information network without the copyright owner's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• publishing a book in which another person has the exclusive right of publication;

• reproducing and/or distributing a sound or visual recording of a performance, or disseminating the performance to the public via information network without the performer's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• reproducing and/or distributing a sound or visual recording, or disseminating such a recording to the public via information network without the producer's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• broadcasting, reproducing or disseminating to the public through information network a radio or television program without authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• intentionally circumventing or destroying the technological measures without the authorisation of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, intentionally manufacturing, importing or providing devices or components used principally for the circumvention or destruction of technical measures for others, or intentional providing technical services to others for the circumvention or destruction of technical measures except as otherwise specified in laws or administrative regulations;

• intentionally deleting or altering the right management information on a work, layout design, performance or audio and video recording, or radio or television broadcast; or providing to the public such works, layout design, performance or audio and video recording, or the radio or television broadcast when any person knows or should have known that the rights management information thereon has been deleted or altered without permission, without authorisation of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations; or

• producing or selling a work involving passing off of another's name as one's own; and

• other acts infringing upon a copyright or a copyright-related right or interest.

Secondary liability does exist under Chinese copyright laws for indirect copyright infringement. This means that a party can be held liable not only for directly infringing copyright, but also for assisting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to someone else’s infringement. Common forms of secondary liability for indirect copyright infringement are as follows.

• Assisting infringement refers to knowingly providing help to someone else to commit copyright infringement, such as supplying tools, equipment or services specifically for infringing use.

• Inducement involves encouraging or inducing others to infringe copyright, for example, by operating a website that actively promotes or organises infringement.

• Contributory infringement means facilitating infringement by providing material contribution or services while knowing or having reason to know that infringement would occur, such as providing server space or network services to a website that hosts infringing material without taking action after being notified.

In China, copyright owners have several legal remedies to address infringement, divided into civil, administrative and criminal actions. Under civil remedies, copyright owners can seek court orders to stop infringing activities, destroy infringing copies,and claim compensation, which includes the recovery of reasonable enforcement costs. For moral rights violations, they may also demand a public apology. On an administrative level, copyright authorities are empowered to confiscate illegal earnings, infringing copies and tools predominantly used for infringement, and can impose fines of up to 10 times the illegal revenue or a maximum of 500,000 yuan. Criminal penalties apply in instances of severe infringement. However, these are generally limited to unauthorised reproduction, distribution,and dissemination of works over information networks.

The time limit for copyright infringement claims is three years from the date the right holder knew or should have known about the infringement and the infringer. If a lawsuit is filed after the three-year period but the infringement is ongoing at the time of filing, the court is required to order the defendant to cease the infringing activities, provided it falls within the copyright protection period. In such instances, the calculation of damages is limited to the three years preceding the date the lawsuit was filed.

Monetary damages are available for copyright infringement. It can be calculated based on the actual losses suffered by the right holder, profits gained by the infringer from the infringement. If both actual losses and infringer’s profits are hard to determine, the court can use reasonable royalties as basis for calculating compensatory damages. If it is difficult to use the three methods in determining damages, the courts may award statutory damages. Under the 2021 amendment to the Copyright Law, statutory damages range from 500 to 5 million yuan. In practice, if evidence demonstrates that the actual damages or profits from infringement exceed this amount, courts have the discretion to award higher compensation. Notably, punitive damages are part of the latest legislative progress in the Chinese copyright laws. In certain circumstances, such as when there is clear malicious intent and egregious infringement, punitive damages up to five times may be granted.

Yes. Attorneys’ fees and costs such as notarisation fee, printing fee, travelling fee can be regarded as reasonable expenses for stopping the infringement, which should be paid by the losing party. In practice the court usually does not order the infringer to compensate all attorney fees and costs to the copyright owner but only the reasonable parts. However, in some complicated cases, the Chinese courts may also consider attorneys’ actual workload and fully support the claimed attorney fees and costs.

Yes, China has criminal provisions related to copyright infringement. These provisions are outlined in the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. A person commits a copyright crime if they reproduce or distribute a work without the copyright holder's permission, and the circumstances are considered serious. This can involve unauthorised copying, publishing or disseminating via internet the copyrighted works such as books, music, films, software, etc. The infringement is typically characterised by a commercial motive. The act of infringement is carried out for the purpose of making a profit, which distinguishes criminal liability from civil liability. The law specifies that the infringement must be of a serious nature to qualify as a criminal act. This seriousness is generally assessed based on factors such as the scale of the infringement, the amount of illicit profit, and the degree of harm caused to the copyright holder. An infringer’s unauthorised copy of a work will constitute a crime if one of the following is satisfied:

• the infringer’s illegal income is more than 30,000 yuan;

• the infringer’s illegal sales amount is more than 50,000 yuan; and

• the infringer provides more than 500 infringing copies.

Circumventing technological protection measures that are put in place to protect copyrighted works can also constitute a criminal offence if the action is done for profit and is of a serious nature. Repeat offenders or those involved in organised infringement operations are more likely to face criminal charges. The penalties for copyright crimes can include fines, confiscation of illegal income and imprisonment. The length of imprisonment and the size of fines depend on the severity of the crime.

A copyright holder may file the case to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to initiate a criminal proceeding. If the PSB believes that the infringer’s activity constitutes a crime, it will detain the infringer. Then the case will be transferred to the Procuratorate Bureau, which will file a criminal litigation with the court for the infringer’s criminal liabilities.

Liabilities for online copyright infringement arise for both direct infringers and internet service providers (ISPs). Individuals or entities who directly upload, distribute or otherwise exploit copyrighted works online without authorisation are directly liable for copyright infringement. ISPs may also be held liable if they have known or should have known the infringement and fail to take appropriate action. ISPs can also undertake secondary liability if they facilitate infringement and do not adequately respond to notifications.

Remedies available for online copyright infringement include cease of infringement and compensation for damage. Injunction relief may be available for emergent situations. The court may also order the destruction of infringing copies and tools used to manufacture them, and in some cases, require a public apology to address reputational harm. Administrative penalties include fines, confiscation of illegal gains and removal of infringing content by copyright authorities, while criminal prosecution and penalties such as imprisonment and fines may apply in serious cases involving large-scale, high-value or repeat offenders.

Several defences are available for online copyright infringement. ISPs may be exempt from liability under the 'safe harbour' principle if they act merely as passive platforms, which merely provide service. Moreover, if ISPs promptly remove infringing content upon receiving notification, they may be exempt from liability. Other defences include normal fair use or statutory exceptions.

In China, customs officials inspect imported and exported products and will seize infringing goods if the relevant copyrighted works have been recorded in the General Customs’ IP Protection System. Generally, parallel imports are not considered copyright infringement unless they violate other regulations, such as specific quality authentication rules for certain products.

When local customs officials identify imported or exported goods that may infringe a recorded work, they promptly notify the copyright owner in writing and request verification within three working days. If the copyright owner asks customs to seize the suspected infringing products, a deposit must be paid, after which customs will proceed to seize and destroy the infringing items.

Additionally, copyright owners may record the names of their licensees in the General Customs’ IP Protection System to ensure that authorised products are not mistakenly seized.

Rights holders can employ various technological measures to prevent unauthorised access, viewing or distribution of their works. Technologies such as watermarking and fingerprinting are instrumental in identifying and tracking copyrighted content, thus facilitating the detection of unauthorised use. Furthermore, the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning enhances the monitoring of online platforms for infringing content.

Under the Copyright Law, it is prohibited for any entity or individual to circumvent or destroy technical protection measures without the consent of the rights holder. The manufacturing, importation or provision of devices or services intended to bypass these measures is similarly forbidden. Exceptions to these prohibitions are strictly limited to circumstances explicitly authorised by laws and administrative regulations.

The Copyright Law clarifies many different kinds of infringement, including several scenarios as below:

• publishing a work without the copyright owner's authorisation;

• publishing a work jointly created with others as a work solely created by oneself, without the other joint author(s)' authorisation;

• affixing one's name to another's work for one's own fame and profit, without participating in the creation thereof;

• distorting or falsifying another's work;

• plagiarising another's work;

• using a work, without the copyright owner's authorisation, through exhibition or production of audio-visual works, or in ways such as adaptation, translation or annotation, unless otherwise specified in this law;

• using another's work without paying remuneration that is due and payable;

• renting out original or copies of the audio and video works, computer software, or a sound or visual recording, without the authorisation of the copyright owner(s) or copyright-related right owner(s), unless otherwise specified in this law;

• using the layout of a book or periodical published by a publisher, without the publisher's authorisation;

• live broadcasting or publicly transmitting a performer's live performance, or recording the performance without the performer's authorisation; or

• reproducing, distributing, performing, projecting, broadcasting or compiling a work, or disseminating the work to the public via information network without the copyright owner's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• publishing a book in which another person has the exclusive right of publication;

• reproducing and/or distributing a sound or visual recording of a performance, or disseminating the performance to the public via information network without the performer's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• reproducing and/or distributing a sound or visual recording, or disseminating such a recording to the public via information network without the producer's authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• broadcasting, reproducing or disseminating to the public through information network a radio or television program without authorisation, except as otherwise specified in this law;

• intentionally circumventing or destroying the technological measures without the authorisation of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, intentionally manufacturing, importing or providing devices or components used principally for the circumvention or destruction of technical measures for others, or intentional providing technical services to others for the circumvention or destruction of technical measures except as otherwise specified in laws or administrative regulations;

• intentionally deleting or altering the right management information on a work, layout design, performance or audio and video recording, or radio or television broadcast; or providing to the public such works, layout design, performance or audio and video recording, or the radio or television broadcast when any person knows or should have known that the rights management information thereon has been deleted or altered without permission, without authorisation of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations; or

• producing or selling a work involving passing off of another's name as one's own; and

• other acts infringing upon a copyright or a copyright-related right or interest.

Secondary liability does exist under Chinese copyright laws for indirect copyright infringement. This means that a party can be held liable not only for directly infringing copyright, but also for assisting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to someone else’s infringement. Common forms of secondary liability for indirect copyright infringement are as follows.

• Assisting infringement refers to knowingly providing help to someone else to commit copyright infringement, such as supplying tools, equipment or services specifically for infringing use.

• Inducement involves encouraging or inducing others to infringe copyright, for example, by operating a website that actively promotes or organises infringement.

• Contributory infringement means facilitating infringement by providing material contribution or services while knowing or having reason to know that infringement would occur, such as providing server space or network services to a website that hosts infringing material without taking action after being notified.

In China, copyright owners have several legal remedies to address infringement, divided into civil, administrative and criminal actions. Under civil remedies, copyright owners can seek court orders to stop infringing activities, destroy infringing copies,and claim compensation, which includes the recovery of reasonable enforcement costs. For moral rights violations, they may also demand a public apology. On an administrative level, copyright authorities are empowered to confiscate illegal earnings, infringing copies and tools predominantly used for infringement, and can impose fines of up to 10 times the illegal revenue or a maximum of 500,000 yuan. Criminal penalties apply in instances of severe infringement. However, these are generally limited to unauthorised reproduction, distribution,and dissemination of works over information networks.

The time limit for copyright infringement claims is three years from the date the right holder knew or should have known about the infringement and the infringer. If a lawsuit is filed after the three-year period but the infringement is ongoing at the time of filing, the court is required to order the defendant to cease the infringing activities, provided it falls within the copyright protection period. In such instances, the calculation of damages is limited to the three years preceding the date the lawsuit was filed.

Monetary damages are available for copyright infringement. It can be calculated based on the actual losses suffered by the right holder, profits gained by the infringer from the infringement. If both actual losses and infringer’s profits are hard to determine, the court can use reasonable royalties as basis for calculating compensatory damages. If it is difficult to use the three methods in determining damages, the courts may award statutory damages. Under the 2021 amendment to the Copyright Law, statutory damages range from 500 to 5 million yuan. In practice, if evidence demonstrates that the actual damages or profits from infringement exceed this amount, courts have the discretion to award higher compensation. Notably, punitive damages are part of the latest legislative progress in the Chinese copyright laws. In certain circumstances, such as when there is clear malicious intent and egregious infringement, punitive damages up to five times may be granted.

Yes. Attorneys’ fees and costs such as notarisation fee, printing fee, travelling fee can be regarded as reasonable expenses for stopping the infringement, which should be paid by the losing party. In practice the court usually does not order the infringer to compensate all attorney fees and costs to the copyright owner but only the reasonable parts. However, in some complicated cases, the Chinese courts may also consider attorneys’ actual workload and fully support the claimed attorney fees and costs.

Yes, China has criminal provisions related to copyright infringement. These provisions are outlined in the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. A person commits a copyright crime if they reproduce or distribute a work without the copyright holder's permission, and the circumstances are considered serious. This can involve unauthorised copying, publishing or disseminating via internet the copyrighted works such as books, music, films, software, etc. The infringement is typically characterised by a commercial motive. The act of infringement is carried out for the purpose of making a profit, which distinguishes criminal liability from civil liability. The law specifies that the infringement must be of a serious nature to qualify as a criminal act. This seriousness is generally assessed based on factors such as the scale of the infringement, the amount of illicit profit, and the degree of harm caused to the copyright holder. An infringer’s unauthorised copy of a work will constitute a crime if one of the following is satisfied:

• the infringer’s illegal income is more than 30,000 yuan;

• the infringer’s illegal sales amount is more than 50,000 yuan; and

• the infringer provides more than 500 infringing copies.

Circumventing technological protection measures that are put in place to protect copyrighted works can also constitute a criminal offence if the action is done for profit and is of a serious nature. Repeat offenders or those involved in organised infringement operations are more likely to face criminal charges. The penalties for copyright crimes can include fines, confiscation of illegal income and imprisonment. The length of imprisonment and the size of fines depend on the severity of the crime.

A copyright holder may file the case to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to initiate a criminal proceeding. If the PSB believes that the infringer’s activity constitutes a crime, it will detain the infringer. Then the case will be transferred to the Procuratorate Bureau, which will file a criminal litigation with the court for the infringer’s criminal liabilities.

Liabilities for online copyright infringement arise for both direct infringers and internet service providers (ISPs). Individuals or entities who directly upload, distribute or otherwise exploit copyrighted works online without authorisation are directly liable for copyright infringement. ISPs may also be held liable if they have known or should have known the infringement and fail to take appropriate action. ISPs can also undertake secondary liability if they facilitate infringement and do not adequately respond to notifications.

Remedies available for online copyright infringement include cease of infringement and compensation for damage. Injunction relief may be available for emergent situations. The court may also order the destruction of infringing copies and tools used to manufacture them, and in some cases, require a public apology to address reputational harm. Administrative penalties include fines, confiscation of illegal gains and removal of infringing content by copyright authorities, while criminal prosecution and penalties such as imprisonment and fines may apply in serious cases involving large-scale, high-value or repeat offenders.

Several defences are available for online copyright infringement. ISPs may be exempt from liability under the 'safe harbour' principle if they act merely as passive platforms, which merely provide service. Moreover, if ISPs promptly remove infringing content upon receiving notification, they may be exempt from liability. Other defences include normal fair use or statutory exceptions.

In China, customs officials inspect imported and exported products and will seize infringing goods if the relevant copyrighted works have been recorded in the General Customs’ IP Protection System. Generally, parallel imports are not considered copyright infringement unless they violate other regulations, such as specific quality authentication rules for certain products.

When local customs officials identify imported or exported goods that may infringe a recorded work, they promptly notify the copyright owner in writing and request verification within three working days. If the copyright owner asks customs to seize the suspected infringing products, a deposit must be paid, after which customs will proceed to seize and destroy the infringing items.

Additionally, copyright owners may record the names of their licensees in the General Customs’ IP Protection System to ensure that authorised products are not mistakenly seized.

Rights holders can employ various technological measures to prevent unauthorised access, viewing or distribution of their works. Technologies such as watermarking and fingerprinting are instrumental in identifying and tracking copyrighted content, thus facilitating the detection of unauthorised use. Furthermore, the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning enhances the monitoring of online platforms for infringing content.

Under the Copyright Law, it is prohibited for any entity or individual to circumvent or destroy technical protection measures without the consent of the rights holder. The manufacturing, importation or provision of devices or services intended to bypass these measures is similarly forbidden. Exceptions to these prohibitions are strictly limited to circumstances explicitly authorised by laws and administrative regulations.