Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China (2020)

Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (Adopted at the 23rd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on November 11, 2020) At its 23rd Meeting, the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress decides to make the following revisions to the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China:

1. The wording "other organizations" in Article 2, Article 9, Article 11, Article 16, Article 19 and Article 22 is revised as "unincorporated organizations".

The wording "citizens" in Article 9, Article 11, Article 16, Article 19 and Article 21 is revised as "natural persons".

2. The wording "includes, among other things, works of literature, art, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering and technology, which are created in any of the following forms" in Article 3 is revised as "means intellectual achievements in the fields of literature, art and science, which are original and can be expressed in a certain form, including".

Subparagraph (6) is revised to read: "(6) audiovisual works".

Subparagraph (9) is revised to read: "(9) other intellectual achievements conforming to the characteristics of the works".

3. Article 4 is revised to read: "Copyright owners and copyright-related right owners may not violate the Constitution and laws, and may not harm public interests when exercising their rights. The State shall supervise and administrate the publication and dissemination of works in accordance with the law."

4. Subparagraph (2) of Article 5 is revised to read: "(2) mere information about facts and happenings; and"

5. The wording "administrative department for copyright under the State Council" in Article 7 and Article 28 is revised as "competent department of copyright of the State".

The wording "shall be in charge of" in Article 7 is replaced with "be responsible for", and "administrative departments for copyright under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government" is revised as "local competent departments of copyright at or above the county level".

6. The wording "Upon authorization, a collective copyright administration organization may exercise the copyright or the rights related to the copyright in its own name for the copyright owner or the owner of the rights related to the copyright" in the first paragraph of Article 8 is revised as "A collective administration organization of copyrights established in accordance with the law is a not-for-profit legal person, which may, upon authorization, claim rights in its own name for the copyright owners or the copyright-related right owners"; and the wording "legal or arbitration proceedings" is revised as "litigation, arbitration or mediation activities".

Two paragraphs are added as the second and the third paragraphs which read: "Collective administration organizations of copyrights shall collect royalties from users based on the authorization. The standard for the collection of royalties shall be determined by the collective administration organizations of copyrights and representatives of the users through consultation; if consultation fails, the parties may file an application to the competent department of copyright of the State for a ruling; if the said parties are not satisfied with the ruling, they may bring a lawsuit in the people's court, or the parties may directly bring a lawsuit in the people's court.

"Collective administration organizations of copyrights shall regularly publicize to the public the collection and transfer of royalties, the withdrawal and use of management fees, and undistributed royalties and other overall situation, and establish a rights information inquiry system for the inquiry of right owners and users. The competent department of copyright of the State shall supervise and administrate the collective administration organizations of copyrights in accordance with the law."

The second paragraph is changed to be the fourth paragraph, which is revised to read: "The way to establish collective administration organizations of copyrights, their rights and obligations, collection and distribution of royalties, and supervision and administration of them shall be prescribed separately by the State Council."

7. The word "digitizing" is added after "duplicating a photographic work" in Subparagraph (5) of the first paragraph of Article 10.

Subparagraph (7) of the first paragraph is revised to read: "the right of rental, that is, the right to non-gratuitously permit others to temporarily use an audiovisual work, or the original or copies of computer software, except where the software itself is not the main object of the lease".

Subparagraphs (11) and (12) of the first paragraph are revised to read: "(11) the right of broadcasting, that is, the right to publicly disseminate or rebroadcast works by wire or by wireless means, and to disseminate broadcast works to the public by loudspeaker or any other similar instruments for transmitting signs, sounds or images, but excluding the right mentioned in Subparagraph (12) of this paragraph;

"(12) the right of communication through information network, that is, the right to make a work available to the public by wire or by wireless means, so that the public may have access to the work at time and place chosen by them".

The wording "a cinematographic work, a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Subparagraph (10) of the first paragraph of Article 10, "cinematography or a process analogous to cinematograph" in Subparagraph (13), "film-making or in a manner analogous to film-making" in Subparagraph (6) of Article 47, and "a cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography" in Article 53 is revised as "audiovisual works".

8. The fourth paragraph of Article 11 is changed to be the first paragraph of Article 12, which is revised to read: "The natural person, legal person or unincorporated organization whose name is affixed to a work shall be the author of the work and have corresponding rights in the work, unless there is proof to the contrary."

Two paragraphs are added as the second and the third paragraphs, which reads: "Authors and other copyright owners may register their works with the registration organs recognized by the competent department of copyright of the State.

"The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to the copyright-related rights."

9. Article 13 is changed to be Article 14, and one paragraph is added as the second paragraph, which reads: "The copyright of a joint work shall be exercised by the co-authors through consensus; where consensus cannot be reached and there are no justifiable reasons, no party shall prevent the other parties from exercising rights other than transferring, permitting others' exclusive use of and pledging the copyright, but the proceeds obtained shall be reasonably distributed to all co-authors."

10. One article is added as Article 16, which reads: "Whoever use a work created by adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement or compilation of a preexisting work for publication, performance, or production of a sound or video recording, shall obtain permission from and pay remuneration to the copyright owner of the work and the copyright owner of the original work."

11. Article 15 is changed to be Article 17, which is revised to read: "The copyright of a cinematographic work or a television play work, which are audiovisual works, shall be enjoyed by the producer, but the scriptwriter, director, cameraman, lyricist, composer and other authors shall enjoy the right of authorship and shall be entitled to remuneration in accordance with the contracts concluded with the producer.

"The ownership of the copyright in audiovisual works other than those prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be agreed upon by the parties concerned; where there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear, the copyright shall be enjoyed by the producer, but the author shall enjoy the right of authorship and the right to remuneration.

"The authors of the scripts, music and other audiovisual works that may be used separately shall be entitled to exercise their copyright separately."

12. Article 16 is changed to be Article 18, and the wording "sketch maps" is added after "maps" in Subparagraph (1) of the second paragraph.

One Subparagraph is added to the second paragraph as Subparagraph (2), which reads: "(2) works for hire created by employees of newspaper, periodical presses, news agencies, radio stations and television stations; or".

13. Article 18 is changed to be Article 20, which is revised to read: "The transfer of ownership of the original work shall not change ownership of the copyright of the work, but the right to exhibit the original work of fine art or of a photographic work shall be enjoyed by the owner of the original work.

"Where an author transfers the ownership of the original copy of an unpublished work of fine art or photographic work, the transferee's exhibition of the original copy does not constitute an infringement upon the author's right of publication."

14. Article 19 is changed to be Article 21, and the wording "be transferred in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Succession" in the first paragraph is revised as "transferred in accordance with the law"

15. Article 21 is changed to be Article 23, and the second and third paragraphs are revised to read: "For a work of a legal person or unincorporated organization, and a work for hire whose copyright (excluding the right of authorship) is enjoyed by a legal person or unincorporated organization, the term of protection for the right of publication shall be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the completion of its creation; and the term of protection for the rights as provided in Subparagraphs (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the first publication of such a work; but if a work is not published within fifty years after the completion of its creation, it shall no longer be protected by this Law.

"For an audiovisual work, the term of protection for the right of publication shall be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the completion of its creation; and the term of protection for the rights as provided in Subparagraphs (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the first publication of such a work;  but if a work is not published within fifty years after the completion of its creation, it shall no longer be protected by this Law."

16. Article 22 is changed to be Article 24, and the wording "or appellation" is added after "the name" in the first paragraph; the wording "the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner in accordance with this Law are not prejudiced" is revised as "the normal use of the work is not affected and the legitimate rights and interests enjoyed by the copyright owner are not unreasonably prejudiced".

The wording "current events" in Subparagraph (3) of the first paragraph is deleted.

The wording "the author" in Subparagraph (4) of the first paragraph is revised as "the copyright owner".

The wording "adaptation, compilation, broadcasting" is added after "translation" in Subparagraph (6) of the first paragraph.

The wording "cultural center" is added after "art gallery" in Subparagraph (8) of the first paragraph.

The wording "non-profit purposes" is added before "no remuneration is made to the performers" in Subparagraph (9) of the first paragraph.

The wording "outdoor" in Subparagraph (10) of the first paragraph is deleted.

The wording "Han language" in Subparagraph (11) of the first paragraph is revised as "the standard spoken and written Chinese language".

Subparagraph (12) of the first paragraph is revised to read: "provision of published works to dyslexics in a barrier-free way through which they can perceive; and".

One Subparagraph is added as Subparagraph (13) in the first paragraph, which reads: "other circumstances as provided by laws and administrative regulations".

The second paragraph is revised to read: "The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to the copyright-related rights."

17. Article 23 is changed to be Article 25, which is revised to read: "Those who compile and publish textbooks for the purpose of implementing compulsory education or State education planning may, without permission of copyright owners, compile published fragments of works, short written works, musical works, a single work of fine art, photographic works, or graphic works in the textbooks, but shall pay remunerations to copyright owners according to the provisions, and indicate the names or appellations of authors and titles of works, and shall not infringe upon other rights enjoyed by the copyright owners in accordance with this Law.

"The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to the copyright-related rights."

18. Article 26 is changed to be Article 28, which is revised to read: "Where property rights under a copyright are pledged, both the pledger and the pledgee shall undergo pledge registration in accordance with the law."

19. The title of Chapter IV is revised as "Copyright-related Rights".

20. Article 37 is changed to be Article 38, and the wording "(an individual performer or a performing group)" in the first paragraph and the second paragraph is deleted.

21. Article 38 is changed to be Article 39, and the word "lease" is added after "distribute" in Subparagraph (5) of the first paragraph.

22. One article is added as Article 40, which reads: "A performance by a performer for the purpose of accomplishing the tasks assigned by his performing entity is a performance for hire, in which the performer shall enjoy the rights to claim performership and to protect his performance image from distortion, and the ownership of other rights shall be agreed upon by the parties. Where the parties have not reached an agreement or the agreement is unclear, the right to performance for hire shall be enjoyed by the performing entity.

"Where the right to performance for hire is enjoyed by performers, the performing entity may use the performance free of charge within the scope of its business."

23. Article 42 is changed to be Article 44, and the second paragraph is revised to read: "A licensee that reproduces, distributes, and disseminates sound recordings or video recordings to the public through information network shall obtain permission from and pay remuneration to both the copyright owner and the performer; a licensee that leases sound recordings or video recordings shall also obtain permission from, and pay remuneration to the performer."

24. One article is added as Article 45, which reads: "Where sound recordings are disseminated through wired or wireless means, or broadcast to the public through technical equipment for transmitting sound, remuneration shall be paid to the sound recording producer."

25. Article 43 is changed to be Article 46, and the wording "pay remuneration to" is revised to read: "but shall pay remuneration to the copyright owners according to the provisions".

26. Article 45 is changed to be Article 47, which is revised to read: "A radio station and television station shall have the right to prohibit the following acts performed without its permission:

"(1) rebroadcasting the radio or television programs broadcast by it by wire or by wireless means;

"(2) recording and reproducing the radio or television programs broadcast by it; and

"(3) disseminating the radio or television programs broadcast by it to the public through information network.

"The exercise of the rights prescribed in the preceding paragraph by a radio station and television station shall not affect, restrict or prejudice others' exercise of copyright or copyright-related rights.

"The term of protection for the rights prescribed in the first paragraph of this Article shall be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the broadcasting of a radio or television program for the first time."

27. Article 46 is changed to be Article 48, which is revised to read: "A television station that broadcasts audiovisual works or video recordings produced by others shall obtain permission from and pay remuneration to the copyright owners of the audiovisual works or the video producers; in the case of broadcasting video recordings produced by others, the television station shall also obtain permission from and pay remuneration to the copyright owners."

28. The title of Chapter V is revised as "Protection of Copyright and Copyright-related Rights".

29. One article is added as Article 49, which reads: "In order to protect copyright and copyright-related rights, the right owner may take technical measures.

"Without permission of the right owner, no organization or individual shall intentionally circumvent or destroy the technological measures, or manufacture, import or provide the relevant devices or components to the public for the purpose of circumventing or destroying the technological measures, or intentionally provide technical services for others to circumvent or destroy the technological measures, except for the circumstances under which such circumvention is permitted by laws or administrative regulations.

"For the purposes of this Law, the term "technological measures" refers to the effective technologies, devices, or components that are used to prevent or restrict the viewing or appreciation of works, performances, sound and video recordings, or the provision of works, performances, sound and video recordings to the public through information network without the permission of the right owners."

30. One article is added as Article 50, which reads: "Technological measures may be circumvented under the following circumstances, provided that technologies, devices or components used to circumvent technological measures are not provided to others, and that other rights enjoyed by the right owners in accordance with the law are not infringed:

"(1) providing a small amount of published works to teachers or scientific researchers for use in classroom teaching or scientific research, in the case that such works are not accessible through normal channels;

"(2) providing, not for profit, published works to dyslexics in a barrier-free way through which they can perceive, in the case that such works are not accessible through normal channels;

"(3) fulfillment of official duties by a State organ in accordance with the administrative, supervisory and judicial procedures;

"(4) testing the security performance of computers and their systems or networks; and

"(5) conducting encryption research or research on reverse engineering of computer software.

"The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to restrictions on copyright-related rights."

31. One article is added as Article 51, which reads: "The following acts shall not be carried out without permission of the right owner:

"(1) intentionally deleting or altering the rights management information on works, format designs, performances, sound or video recordings, or radio or television programs, except for those which cannot be avoided due to technical reasons; and

"(2) making available to the public works, format designs, performances, sound or video recordings, or radio or television programs when the provider knows or should know that the rights management information attached thereto has been deleted or altered without permission."

32. Article 47 is changed to be Article 52, and the Subparagraph (8) is revised to read: "leasing an audiovisual work, computer software, or the original or a copy of a sound or video recording, without permission of the copyright owner, the performer or the producer of the recording, unless otherwise provided in this Law".

The wording "rights and interests" in Subparagraph (11) is revised as "rights".

33. Article 48 is changed to be Article 53, which is revised to read: "Anyone who commits any of the following infringing acts shall, depending on the circumstances, bear civil liability prescribed in Article 52 of this Law; where public rights and interests are concurrently impaired by the infringement, the competent department of copyright shall order the infringer to stop infringement, give him a warning, confiscate his unlawful gains, and confiscate and harmlessly destroy the infringing copies and the materials, tools and instruments mainly used to produce the infringing copies, and may, where the illegal turnover exceeds 50,000 yuan, concurrently impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal turnover; where there is no illegal turnover or the illegal turnover is difficult to calculate or is less than 50,000 yuan, a fine of not more than 250,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law:

"(1) without permission of the copyright owner, reproducing, distributing, performing,  projecting, broadcasting, compiling a work or disseminating a work to the public through information network, unless otherwise provided in this Law;

"(2) publishing a book whose exclusive right of publication is enjoyed by another;

"(3) without permission of the performer, reproducing or distributing sound or video recordings of his performance, or making the performance available to the public through information network, unless otherwise provided in this Law;

"(4) without permission of the producer, reproducing, distributing, disseminating sound or video recordings produced by him to the public through information network, unless otherwise provided in this Law;

"(5) without permission, broadcasting, reproducing or disseminating radio or television programs to the public through information network, unless otherwise provided in this Law;

"(6) without permission of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, intentionally circumventing or destroying the technological measures, intentionally manufacturing, importing or providing to others the devices or components mainly used for the purpose of circumventing or destroying the technological measures, or intentionally providing technical services to others to circumvent or destroy the technological measures, unless otherwise provided in laws or administrative regulations;

"(7) without permission of the copyright owner or copyright-related right owner, intentionally deleting or altering the rights management information on works, format designs, performances, sound or video recordings, or radio or television programs, or disseminating to the public the works, format designs, performances, sound or video recordings, or radio or television programs when the provider knows or should know that the rights management information has been deleted or altered, unless otherwise provided in laws or administrative regulations; or

"(8) producing or selling a work the authorship of which is counterfeited."

34. Article 49 is changed to be Article 54, which is revised to read: "In case of infringement upon the copyright or the copyright-related rights, the infringer shall make compensation on the basis of the actual loss suffered by the right owner or based on the illegal gains of the infringer; where the actual loss of the right owner or the illegal gains of the infringer are difficult to be calculated, compensation may be made by reference to the amount of royalties for that right. In case of intentional infringement upon the copyright or the copyright-related rights, if the circumstances are serious, compensation may be made not less than one time but not more than five times the amount determined according to the abovementioned methods.

"Where the actual loss of the right owner, the illegal gains of the infringer or the royalties are difficult to be calculated, the people's court shall, in light of the circumstances of the infringement, decide on a compensation not less than 500 yuan but not more than 5,000,000 yuan.

"The amount of compensation shall also include the reasonable expenses paid by the right owner for stopping infringement.

"Where the right ownerhas met the necessary burden of proof in order to determine the amount of compensation, the people's court may order the infringer to provide the account books and materials related to the infringing act in the case that the account books and materials are mainly in the control of the infringer; if the infringer refuses to provide or provides the false account books and materials, the people's court may determine the amount of compensation by reference to the claims and evidence provided by the right owner.

"When trying a case concerning a copyright dispute, the people's court shall, at the request of the right owner, order the destruction of the infringing copies, except in special circumstances; order the destruction of the material, tools and instruments mainly used to produce infringing copies without compensation; or in special circumstances, the prohibition of the aforesaid material, tools and instruments, among others, from entering commercial channels without compensation."

35. One article is added as Article 55, which reads: "When investigating and dealing with the acts suspected of infringing upon copyright and copyright-related rights, the competent department of copyright may question the parties and investigate the circumstances related to the suspected illegal acts; conduct on-site inspections of the premises and articles involved in the suspected illegal acts; consult and duplicate contracts, invoices, account books and other materials related to the suspected illegal acts; and seal up or seize the premises and articles involved in the suspected illegal acts.

"When the competent department of copyright exercises the functions and powers prescribed in the preceding paragraph in accordance with the law, the parties shall assist and cooperate, and shall not refuse or obstruct the exercise of such functions and powers."

36. Article 50 is changed to be Article 56, which is revised to read: "Where a copyright owner or a copyright-related right owner has evidence to prove that another person is committing, or is about to commit, an infringement upon his rights or an act hindering the realization of his rights, and failure to stop such acts in a timely manner will cause irreparable damage to his legitimate rights and interests, he may, before bringing a lawsuit, apply to a people's court in accordance with the law for taking such measures as preserving property, ordering performance of a specific act, or prohibiting a specific act."

37. Article 51 is changed to be Article 57, which is revised to read: "In order to prevent infringement, a copyright owner or a copyright-related right owner may, before bringing a lawsuit, apply to a people's court in accordance with the law for evidence preservation, where the evidence may be destroyed or lost or is difficult to be obtained later."

38. Article 53 is changed to be Article 59, and one paragraph is added as the second paragraph which reads: "During the litigation process, where the defendant-infringer claims that he is not liable for the infringement, he shall present evidence to prove that he has obtained the permission of the right owner, or that he falls under the circumstances under which use is allowed without permission of the right owner as provided in this Law."

39. One article is added as Article 61, which reads: "The provisions of the relevant laws shall apply where the parties bear civil liability for failure to perform contractual obligations or failure to perform contractual obligations in conformity with the agreement, and where the parties exercise their litigation rights or apply for preservation, etc."

40. One article is added as Article 65, which reads: "Where the protection period for photographic works, right of publication, and rights prescribed in Subparagraphs (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 has expired before June 1, 2021, but they are still within the protection period according to the first paragraph of Article 23 of this Law, they shall no longer be protected."

41. Article 60 is changed to be Article 66, and the wording "or policies" in the second paragraph is deleted.

42. Article 35, the second paragraph of Article 40, Article 44, Article 54 and Article 56 are deleted.

This Decision shall go into effect on June 1, 2020.

The Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China shall be promulgated anew after relevant revisions are made and the order of articles is adjusted according to this Decision.