The Supreme People's Court's Take on Copyright Liabilities for ISPs

By Ju Deng Los Angeles, California

China has seen exponential growth in the number of internet users and service providers over the past decade. As of December 31 2003, there were 79.5 million internet users (with 17.4 million users accessing the internet via broadband), which constituted an increase of 34.5% from 2002. At the same time, the number of URLs increased at an unprecedented rate. An increase of 60.3% in website addresses from 2002 brought the number to 596,000 by the end of 2003.¹

Advances in technology and its applications in business often point up the shortcomings in the regulatory and legal environments. In cyberspace where the barriers to infringement are few, copyright ownership is one of the most frequently discussed issues in China. So much so that anti-piracy campaigns have set the tone for copyright law developments in the internet sphere. Pending the strengthening of legal protections for copyright owners in the internet area, service providers² have expressed their concerns over the one-sidedness of existing attitudes and practices on liability and where liability actually lies.