Article
1. These
Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Copyright Law of
the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as "the Copyright
Law").
Article
2. The
term "works" as referred to in 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.
Article
3. The
term "creation" as referred to in the Copyright Law means intellectual
activities in which literary, artistic or scientific works are directly
created.
Any organizational
activity, consultation, material support or other auxiliary services
conducted or offered for another person's creation shall not be deemed
as creation.
Go Top
Article
4. For
the purposes of the Copyright Law and these Regulations, the following
expressions concerning works shall have the meanings hereunder assigned
to them:
(1) "written works" means works expressed in written form, such as
novels, poems, essays and theses;
(2) "oral works" means works expressed in form of spoken language,
such as impromptu speeches, lectures and court debates;
(3) "musical works" means such works as songs and symphonic works,
with or without accompanying words, which can be sung or performed;
(4) "dramatic works" means such works as dramas, operas and local
traditional operas for stage performance;
(5) "qu yi works" means such works as "xiang sheng" (cross talk),
"kuai shu" (clapper talk), "da gu" (ballad singing with drum accompaniment)
and "ping shu" (story telling based on novels), which are mainly performed
by recitation or singing, or by both;
(6) "choreographic works" means works in which ideas and feelings
are or can be expressed through successive body movements, gestures,
facial movements, etc;
(7) "acrobatic works" means works expressed through body movements
and skills, such as acrobatics, magic and circus;
(8) "works of fine arts" means two-or three-dimensional works of the
plastic arts created in lines, colours or other media which impart
aesthetic effect, such as paintings, works of calligraphy and sculptures;
(9) "works of architecture" means works with aesthetic effect which
are expressed in form of buildings or structures;
(10) "photographic works" means artistic works created by recording
images of objects on light-sensitive or other materials with the aid
of devices;
(11) "cinematographic works and works created by a process analogous
to cinematography" means works which are recorded on some material,
consisting of a series of images, with or without accompanying sound,
and which can be projected with the aid of suitable devices or communicated
by other means;
(12) "graphic works" means such works as drawings of engineering designs
and product designs for the purpose of actual construction and manufacturing,
and as maps and sketches showing geographical phenomena and demonstrating
the fundamentals or the structure of a thing or an object;
(13) "model works" means three-dimensional works made on the basis
of the shape and the structure of an object to a certain scale, for
the purpose of display, test or observation.
Article
5. For
the purposes of the Copyright Law and these Regulations, the following
expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them:
(1) "news on current affairs" means the mere facts or happenings conveyed
through the media such as newspapers, periodicals and radio and television
programmes;
(2) "sound recordings" means aural fixations of sounds of performances
or of other sounds;
(3) "video recordings" means fixations of a connected series of related
images or pictures, with or with-out accompanying sounds, other than
cinematographic works and works created by a process analogous to
cinematography;
(4) "producer of sound recordings" means the person who first makes
the sound recordings;
(5) "producer of video recordings" means the person who first makes
the video recordings;
(6) "performer" means an actor, or a performing group or any other
person who performs literary or artistic works.
Go Top
Article
6. A
copyright shall subsist on the date when a work is created.
Article
7. Works
of foreigners or stateless persons first published in the territory
of China, as provided in the third paragraph of Article 2 of the Copyright
Law, shall be protected from the date of the first publication of
the works.
Article
8. Where
a work of a foreigner or a stateless person first published outside
the territory of China is published in the territory of China within
30 days thereafter, it shall be deemed published simultaneously in
the territory of China.
Article
9. Where
a work of joint authorship cannot be separated into parts and exploited
separately, the copyright therein shall be enjoyed by the co-authors
and exercised under a unanimous agreement; where an agreement thereupon
cannot be reached through consultation, any party may not, without
justifications, prevent the other party or parties from exercising
the copyright, except the transfer right; however, the gains thus
obtained shall be distributed reasonably among all the co-authors.
Article
10. Where
a copyright owner authorizes another person to make, based on his
works, cinematographic works or works created by a process analogous
to cinematography, it is deemed that he has permitted him to make
necessary alteration of his works, insofar as such alteration does
not distort or mutilate the original works.
Article
11. The
terms "tasks" as referred to in the first paragraph of Article 16
of the Copyright Law regarding a work created in the course of employment
means the duties the citizen shall fulfill in the legal person or
organization by which he is employed.
The term "material and technical resources" as referred to in the
second paragraph of Article 16 of the Copyright Law regarding a work
created in the course of employment means the funds, equipment or
materials purposely provided to the citizen by the legal person or
organization by which he is employed for the creation of a work.
Go Top
Article
12. Where,
within two years after the completion of a work created in the course
of employment, the author, with the consent by the entity he belongs
to, authorizes a third party to exploit his work in the same manner
as the entity may have, the remuneration obtained therefrom shall
be divided between the author and the entity according to the agreed
proportions.
The period of two years after the completion of the work shall be
calculated from the date on which the author submits the work to the
entity.
Article
13. In
the case of a work of an unidentified author, the copyright, except
the right of authorship, shall be exercised by the owner of the original
copy of the work. Where the author is identified, the copyright shall
be exercised by the author or his successor.
Article
14. Where one
of the co-authors of a work dies without any successor or legatee,
the rights he enjoyed in the work as stipulated in subparagraphs (5)
through (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Copyright
Law shall be exercised by the other co-authors.
Article
15. The
right of authorship, the right of revision and the right of integrity
included in a copyright shall, after the death of the author, be protected
by his successor or legatee.
In the absence of a successor or legatee, the right of authorship,
the right of revision and the right of integrity included in a copyright
shall be protected by the administrative departments for copyright.
Article
16. The
exploitation of a work the copyright in which is enjoyed by the State
shall be managed by the administrative department for copyright of
the State Council.
Article
17. In
the case of a posthumous work, the right of publication may be exercised
by the author's successor or legatee within a period of 50 years after
the death of the author, unless the author had expressly stated otherwise.
In the absence of a successor or legatee, the said right shall be
exercised by the owner of the original copy of the work.
Go Top
Article
18. In
the case of a work of an unidentified author, the term of protection
for the rights of such an author as provided in subparagraphs (5)
through (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Copyright
Law shall expire on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication
of the work. The provisions of Article 21 of the Copyright Law shall
be applicable after the author of the work has been identified.
Article
19. Anyone
who exploits another person's work shall clearly indicate the name
of the author and the title of the work, except where the parties
agree otherwise or the indication cannot be undertaken due to the
special characteristic of the manner of exploiting the work.
Article 20. The
term "published work" as referred to in the Copyright Law means a
work which has been made available to the public by the copyright
owner himself or under his permission.
Article
21. The
exploitation of a published work which may be exploited without permission
from the copyright owner in accordance with the relevant provisions
of the Copyright Law shall not impair the normal exploitation of the
work concerned, nor unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests
of the copyright owner.
Article
22. The
rates of remuneration for the exploitation of works in accordance
with the provisions of Article 23, the second paragraph of Article
32 and the third paragraph of Article 39 of the Copyright Law shall
be fixed and issued by the administrative department for copyright
of the State Council jointly with the competent department for pricing
of the State Council.
Article
23. Anyone
who exploits another person's work shall conclude a licensing contract
with the copyright owner, and the contract shall be made in written
form insofar as the right licensed for exploiting the work has an
exclusive nature, except where the work is to be published in a newspaper
or a periodical.
Go Top
Article
24. The
contents of an exclusive right of exploitation provided in Article
24 of the Copyright Law shall be agreed upon by the contract. In the
absence of such an agreement or of any clear agreement thereupon in
the contract, it shall be deemed that the licensee has the right to
prevent any other person, including the copyright owner himself, from
exploiting the work in the same manner; unless otherwise agreed in
the contract, the sublicensing of the same right to a third party
by the licensee shall be subject to the permission from the copyright
owner.
Article
25. An
exclusive licensing contract and a copyright transfer contract concluded
with the copyright owner may be filed with the administrative departments
for copyright for the record.
Article
26. The
term "rights and interests related to copyright" as referred to in
the Copyright Law and these Regulations means the rights enjoyed by
publishers in the typographical designs of their books or periodicals,
the rights enjoyed by performers in their performances, the rights
enjoyed by producers of sound and video recordings in their sound
and video recordings, and the rights enjoyed by radio and television
stations in their broadcasting programmes.
Article
27. Publishers,
performers, producers of sound and video recordings, and radio and
television stations, in the course of exercising their rights, shall
not prejudice the rights of the copyright owners in the works being
exploited and in the original works.
Article
28. Where
it is agreed in a book publishing contract that the book publisher
enjoys an exclusive publishing right but its particular contents are
not specified, it shall be deemed that the book publisher has the
exclusive right to publish a book in the same language and in the
form of original or revised version, within the term of validity of
the contract and the territory defined by the contract.
Article
29. If
two separate subscription forms mailed by the copyright owner to the
book publisher are still not able to be fulfilled within six months,
it shall be deemed that the stock of the book is exhausted as referred
to in Article 31 of the Copyright Law.
Go Top
Article
30. Where
a copyright owner declares in accordance with the second paragraph
of Article 32 of the Copyright Law that no reprinting or excerpting
of his work is permitted, he shall append such a declaration to the
work when it is published in a newspaper or a periodical.
Article
31. Where
a copyright owner declares in accordance with the third paragraph
of Article 39 of the Copyright Law that no making of sound recordings
of his work is permitted, he shall make such a declaration when his
work is legally recorded.
Article
32. To
exploit another person's work in accordance with the provisions of
Article 23, the second paragraph of Article 32 and the third paragraph
of Article 39 of the Copyright Law, the exploiter shall pay remuneration
to the copyright owner within two months from the date of exploitation
of the said work.
Article
33. Performances
by foreigners or stateless persons in the territory of China shall
be protected by the Copyright Law.
The rights enjoyed by foreigners or stateless persons in their performances
under the international treaties to which China has already acceded
shall be protected by the Copyright Law.
Article
34. Sound
recordings produced and distributed by foreigners or stateless persons
in the territory of China shall be protected by the Copyright Law.
The rights enjoyed by foreigners or stateless persons in the sound
recordings produced and distributed by them under the international
treaties to which China has acceded shall be protected by the Copyright
Law.
Go Top
Article
35. The
rights enjoyed by foreign radio and television stations in their broadcasting
programmes under the international treaties to which China has acceded
shall be protected by the Copyright Law.
Article
36. Where
any act of infringement is committed as enumerated in Article 47 of
the Copyright Law, which also prejudices the social or public interests,
the administrative department for copyright may impose a fine of not
more than three times the volume of the illegal business; where the
volume of illegal business is difficult to calculate, a fine of not
more than 100,000 yuan may be imposed.
Article
37. Where
any act of infringement is committed as enumerated in Article 47 of
the Copyright Law, which also prejudices the social or public interests,
the administrative department for copyright of the local people's
government shall be responsible for the investigation into and dealing
with such an act.
The administrative department for copyright of the State Council may
investigate into and deal with any act of infringement that is of
nationwide effect.
Article
38. These
Regulations shall be effective on September 15, 2002. The Regulations
for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic
of China, which were approved by the State Council on May 24, 1991
and promulgated by the National Copyright Administration on May 30,
1991, shall be abolished at the same time.
Go Top
