State Council, PRC Copyright Law Implementing Regulations

Promulgated: August 2 2002
Effective: September 15 2002

Main contents: The Implementing Regulations expand the scope of protection of copyright involving foreign parties. According to Articles 33 and 34, the performance of, and the sound recording produced and distributed by, a foreigner or a stateless person in China, and the rights he is entitled to with regard to the performance or the sound recording under an international treaty that China has acceded to, shall be protected by the Copyright Law.
Article 9 stipulates that where a joint work cannot be used by dividing it, its copyright shall be jointly owned by the co-authors, and exercised with consensus by the parties. Where the co-authors fail to reach a consensus, no party may without proper cause prevent other parties from exercising the rights except for the assignment right, but the gains shall be properly distributed to all co-authors.
Article 32 requires a person using the work of another to pay remuneration to the copyright owner within two months from the date of use of that work. He shall also indicate the name of the author and the title of the work, unless there is agreement between the parties or they cannot be indicated due to the format of the use of the work (Article 19). The remuneration standard for the use of works shall be formulated and promulgated by the copyright administration department of the State Council in conjunction with the State Council department in charge of pricing (Article 22).
Anyone who wishes to use the work of another shall conclude a licensing contract with the copyright owner. Where the licence is exclusive, the contract shall be in written format (Article 23). The particulars of an exclusive licence shall be stipulated in the contract. Where there is no stipulation in the contract or the stipulation is unclear, the licensee has the right to exclude any person including the copyright owner to use the work in the same format (Article 24).
The Implementing Regulations also set out the penalties of copyright infringement. According to Article 36, where an act of copyright infringement stipulated in the Copyright Law also harms the public interest, the copyright administration department may impose a penalty of not more than three times of the income made from illegal operation. Where the amount is difficult to calculate, a penalty of less than Rmb100,000 may be imposed.
Related legislation: PRC, Copyright Law (Revised), Oct 27 2001, CLP 2001 No.10 p53
Repealed legislation: State Publishing Bureau, PRC Copyright Law Implementing Regulations, May 30, 1991