Regulation on the Implementation of the Copyright
Law of
the People¡¯s Republic of China
Article 1 The present Regulation has been enacted on the basis
of the Copyright Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China (hereafter
¡°the Copyright Law¡±).
Article 2. The term "works" used in the Copyright Law
refers to original intellectual creations in the literary, artistic
and scientific domain, in so far as they are capable of being
reproduced in a certain tangible form.
Article 3. The term "creation" mentioned in the Copyright
Law refers to intellectual activities from which literary, artistic
and scientific works are directly resulted.
The making of arrangement and the provision of consultation,
material means or supporting service, done for others in their
creating activities, shall not be deemed as acts of creating.
Article 4 Definitions of the following works mentioned in the
Copyright Law and the present Regulation are:
(1) Written works are works expressed in writing, such as novels,
poems, pieces of prose and treatises;
(2) Oral works are works, such as impromptu speeches, lectures
and court debates, which are created in spoken language;
(3) Musical works are works, with or without accompanying words,
which can be sung or performed, such as songs and symphonies;
(4) Dramatic works are works, such as dramas, operas and local
art forms, which are created for stage performance;
(5) Qu Yi works are works created mainly for performance in a
way involving recitation, singing, or both, such as xiangsheng
(cross talk), kuaishu (clapper talk), dagu (story singing with
the accompaniment of a small drum) and pingshu (story telling);
(6) Choreographic works are works which express ideas and emotions
by means of successive body movements, gestures and facial movements;
(7) Acrobatic works are works which are expressed through shapes
and acts of body and other skills, such as acrobatics, magic,
circus, etc.
(8) Works of fine art are two- or three-dimensional works created
in lines, colors or other medium which, when being viewed, impart
esthetic effects, such as paintings, works of calligraphy, sculptures,
etc.;
(9) Architectural works are works that are represented by buildings
or forms of buildings and that, when viewed, could impart esthetic
effects;
(10) Photographic works are the kind of artistic works created
by recording the images of objective objects on light-sensitive
materials or other media with the aid of devices;
(11) Cinematographic works and works created by methods similar
to producing movies refer to those that are created by shooting
on some medium and that consist of a series of frames of images,
with or without accompanying sound, and can be screened with the
aid of devices or transmitted by other means;
(12) Works of drawing include engineering designs and product
designs created for the purpose of constructions and productions
and atlases or sketch maps that show geographic phenomena or demonstrate
the elements or structures of things;
(13) Model works are three-dimensional works that are created
in certain proportions according to the shapes and structures
of objects for the purpose of demonstration, experiment or observation,
etc.
Article 5 Definitions of the following terms as mentioned in
the Copyright Law and the present Regulation are:
(1) News of current events refers to the mere report of facts
or happenings conveyed by mass media including newspapers, periodicals
and radios and television stations, etc.;
(2) Sound recordings are the recordings of any sounds performed
or other sounds;
(3) Video recordings are recordings of a series of related images
or pictures, with or without accompanying sounds, other than cinematographic
works and works that are created by ways similar to shooting movies;
(4) Producer of sound recordings refers to the original producer
of the sound recordings;
(5) Producer of video recordings refers to the original producer
of the video recordings;
(6) Performer refers to actors or acting entities or other persons
who perform literary and artistic works.
Article 6 Copyright originates as of the day when the creation
of a work is completed.
Article 7 The works of foreigners or stateless persons that are
published for the first time without the territory of China as
mentioned in Article 2, Paragraph 3 of the Copyright Law shall
be subject to protection on the day when they are published for
the first time.
Article 8 Where any of the works of any foreigner or stateless
person is published within the territory of China within 30 days
after being published for the first time without the territory
of China, it shall be deemed as being published within the territory
of China simultaneously.
Article 9 The copyright to co-authored works that cannot be used
piecemeal shall be shared by the co-authors and exercised through
negotiations. Where an agreement fails and there is no good reason,
no co-author may stop any other co-author from exercising his
rights other than assignment, but the gains acquired shall be
shared by the co-authors in a reasonable way.
Article 10 Where the copyright owner has authorized the making
of cinematographic works or works created in ways similar to shooting
movies on the basis of his or her work, it shall be implied that
he or she has granted permission to make necessary alterations
to his or her work, in so far as such alteration does not distort
or mutilate the original work.
Article 11 The term ¡°work assignment¡± as used in Article 16,
Paragraph 1 of the Copyright Law concerning assignment works refers
to the duties that a citizen should fulfill for the legal person
or organization.
The term ¡°material and technical conditions¡± as mentioned in
Article 16, Paragraph 2 of the Copyright Law concerning assignment
works refers to the funds, equipments or materials specially provided
by the legal person or organization for the citizen to complete
the creation of the work.
Article 12 The remunerations that the author obtains from a third
party by permit him to use his assignment work in similar ways
as the entity uses it within two years after the work is completed
and upon the consent of the entity where he works shall be shared
by the entity according to the proportion as agreed upon by the
author and the entity.
The aforementioned 2 years¡¯ period after the creation of the
work shall be calculated from the date on which the work concerned
is submitted to the entity.
Article 13 In the case of a work of unknown authorship, the copyright
thereof shall be exercised by the holder of the original copy
of the work except the right of authorship. After the authorship
has been ascertained, the copyright shall be exercised by the
author or the heirs thereof.
Article 14 Where any of the coauthors dies and the copyright
thereof as mentioned in Article 10, Paragraph 1, Items 5 through
17 of the Copyright Law which there is no one to inherit or to
be bequeathed, it shall be enjoyed by other coauthors.
Article 15 The right of authorship, the right of revision and
the right of keeping the integrity of the work shall, after the
author dies, be protected by the inheritor or bequeathed.
In the absence of inheritors or bequeathed, right of authorship,
right of revision and right of keeping the integrity of the work
shall be protected by the copyright administrative authority.
Article 16 The copyright enjoyed by the State shall be enforced
by the copyright administrative authority on behalf of the State.
Article 17 In the case of posthumous works, the right of publication
may be exercised by the inheritor or the bequeathed within 50
years after the author¡¯s death if the author has not explicitly
expressed that the work shall not be published. In the absence
of any inheritor of bequeathed, the said right may be exercised
by the lawful holder of the original work.
Article 18 In the case of a work of unknown authorship, the term
of protection of the rights as provided in Article 10, Paragraph
1, Items 5 through 17 of the Copyright Law, shall be 50 years
ending on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the first publication
of the work. The provisions of Article 21 of the Copyright Law
shall be applicable after authorship of the work has been ascertained.
Article 19 When using other author¡¯s work, the name of the author
and the title of the work shall be specified unless it has been
otherwise agreed upon by the parties concerned or it cannot be
specified due to the peculiarity of the way of use.
Article 20 The term ¡°published work¡± as mentioned in the Copyright
Law refers to a work which has been made known to the public by
the holder of copyright or by permission.
Article 21 According to the relevant provisions of the Copyright
Law, the use of any published work for which it is permitted not
to obtain the permission of the holder of copyright shall not
affect the normal use of the work, and shall not unreasonably
impair the lawful rights of the holder of copyright.
Article 22 The rate of royalties for the use of work in ways
as provided in Articles 23, 32 (2), and 39 (3) of the Copyright
Law shall be formulated and promulgated by the administrative
authority of copyright under the State Council in collaboration
with the administrative authority of price affairs under the State
Council.
Article 23 For the use of other author¡¯s work, agreements for
permitted use of work shall be concluded with the holder of copyright.
Where the permitted use right is an exclusive one, the agreement
shall be in writing, however, with the exception of the works
published in newspapers and magazines.
Article 24 The exclusive use as provided in Article 24 of the
Copyright Law shall be subject to the stipulations of agreements.
If it is not stipulated or not clearly stipulated in any agreement,
it shall be deemed that the party permitted shall have the right
to exclude any one including the holder of copyright to use the
work in the same ways as he does. Unless it is otherwise stipulated
in the contract, the party permitted must obtain the permission
of the holder of copyright before permitting any third party to
exercise the same right.
Article 25 The contracts concluded with the holder of copyright
for the exclusive use or transfer of the work may be submitted
to the administrative authority of copyright for archivist purposes.
Article 26 The term ¡°copyright-related rights¡± as mentioned in
the Copyright Law and the present Regulation mean the right enjoyed
by publishers as to the format design of the books and magazines
published thereby, the right enjoyed by performers as to their
performances, the right enjoyed by producers of audio and video
recordings as to their products of audio-video recordings, and
the rights enjoyed by radio and television stations as to the
programs in their broadcasts.
Article 27 The publishers, performers, producers of audio-video
recordings, broadcasting and televisions stations shall not, in
their exercise of rights, infringe upon the rights of the holder
of copyright to the works used and the original work.
Article 28 Where it is stipulated in the contract for publishing
books that the publisher has the right to publication but such
right is not specified in detail, it shall be deemed that the
publisher has the exclusive right to publish the original or revised
versions of the book in the same languages within the valid term
of the contract and within the geographic areas as stipulated
in the contract.
Article 29 Where two orders of the copyright holder sends to
the publisher have not been performed within 6 months, it shall
be deemed as the sellout as mentioned in Article 31 of the Copyright
Law.
Article 30 Where the holder of copyright announces that his work
may not be reprinted or compiled in extracts according to Article
32, Paragraph 2 of the Copyright Law, he shall make the announcement
in the newspaper or magazine when the work is published.
Article 31 Where the holder of copyright announces that no audio
recordings may be made to his work as pursuant to Article 39,
Paragraph 3 of the Copyright Law, he shall make the announcement
when the work is lawfully made into a product of audio recordings.
Article 32 According to the provisions of Articles 23, 32 (b),
39 (c) of the Copyright Law, for any use of the work of any other
person, payment of royalty shall be made to the holder of copyright
within 2 months after the work is used.
Article 33 Performances of foreigners and stateless persons within
the People¡¯s Republic of China shall be subject to the protection
of the Copyright Law.
The right which a foreigner or stateless person enjoys in his
performances according to the international treaties to which
China has acceded to shall be subject to the protection of the
Copyright Law.
Article 34 The audio recordings produced or published by a foreigner
or stateless person within the territory of the People¡¯s Republic
of China shall be subject to the Copyright Law.
The rights that a foreigner or stateless person enjoys in the
audio recordings he produces or publishes according to the international
treaties to which China has acceded to shall be subject to the
Copyright Law.
Article 35 The rights that a foreign radio broadcasting station
or television station enjoys in any of its programs according
to the international treaties to which China has acceded to shall
be subject to the protection of the Copyright Law.
Article 36 For any of the tortious acts as mentioned in Article
47 of the Copyright Law which at the same time injures the social
public good, a fine of up to three times the illegal proceeds
shall be imposed upon the tort-feasor by the administrative authority
of copyright. If it is not easy to calculate the illegal proceeds,
a fine of up to 100,000 yuan may be imposed upon the tort-feasor.
Article 37 Any tortious act as mentioned in Article 47 of the
Copyright Law that injures the social public good at the same
time shall be investigated and punished by the administrative
authority of copyright under the local people¡¯s government.
The administrative department of copyright under the State Council
may investigate and punish a tortious act of national influence.
Article 38 The present Regulation shall come into force as of
September 15, 2002. The Regulation for the Implementation of the
Copyright Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China which was ratified
by the State Council on May 24, 1991 and promulgated by the State
Copyright Administration on May 30, 1991 shall be concurrently
repealed.
