Circular on Regulating the Copyright Order in Reprinting Online

When an internet medium reprints another's work in accordance with the preceding paragraph, it may not infringe other rights and interests enjoyed by the copyright owner in accordance with the law.

2. When a newspaper/periodical entity reprints a work previously printed by another such entity, the second paragraph of Article 33 of the Copyright Law shall apply, namely, after publication of the work, other newspapers/periodicals may reprint the same, or publish it as an abridged version or information, unless the copyright owner has stated that the same may not be reprinted or an abridgement of the same made, and provided that it pays the copyright owner remuneration in accordance with provisions.

Where a newspaper/periodical entity reprints a work previously published by an internet medium, or vice versa, or where the same occurs between internet media, the previous paragraph shall not apply, and such entity or medium shall secure the permission of the copyright owner and pay him/her/it remuneration therefor.

3. When an internet medium reprints another's work, it may not make substantive revisions to the contents thereof. If editorial modifications or abridgments are made to the headings or contents, the same may not distort or twist the original meaning of the headings or work.

4. For the purposes of Article 5 of the Copyright Law, the term “news of current events” means a pure reporting of facts/information by a newspaper, periodical, radio station, television station or other such media, and such facts/information is not subject to the protection of the Copyright Law. Any information, communication, feature, news report or other such work containing original effort of the copyright owner is not pure facts/information, and if an internet medium wishes to reprint the same, it must secure the permission of the copyright owner and pay him/her/it remuneration therefor.

5. A newspaper/periodical entity that obtains works through the commissioning of contributions, the offering of contributions or other such means may enter into licensing contracts with the copyright owners, expressly specifying the type of rights that are licensed, whether the licensed rights are exclusive rights or non-exclusive rights, the geographical scope and term of the licences, the remuneration rate and method of payment, liability for breach of contract and other provisions that the parties deem necessary to provide for. If the parties agree that the rights are to be exercised by the newspaper/periodical entity, and an internet medium wishes to reprint such a work, it shall require the permission of the newspaper/periodical entity and pay it remuneration therefor.

6. A newspaper/periodical entity may provide, by way of contracts with its employees, for the vesting of copyright in works created by them in completing the tasks assigned to them by the newspaper/periodical entity. If a contract provides that copyright is enjoyed by the newspaper/periodical entity, the newspaper/periodical entity may clarify the title relationship for the works it publishes by issuing a copyright statement, and if an internet medium wishes to reprint such a work, it shall require the permission of the newspaper/periodical entity and pay it remuneration therefor.

7. Newspaper/periodical entities and internet media shall establish and improve their own copyright management systems. Such an entity or medium shall establish an information database of the works in which it and its employees enjoy copyright, recording information on title to the works and, in respect of the works the use of which has been licensed to others, it shall include relevant information such as the right granting method and the term of such granting. It shall establish an information database on the works of others that it has been licensed to use, recording relevant information such as the source of the rights, the right granting method and the term of such granting.

8. A newspaper/periodical entity and an internet medium, or an internet medium and another internet medium shall establish an online reprinting copyright cooperation mechanism by way of executing a copyright licensing agreement or other such means, strengthen review of the copyright in reprinted works, jointly explore a reasonable right granting pricing system and further improve the mechanism for transacting the granting of rights in works.

9. Copyright administrative departments at each level shall intensify their oversight of internet media copyright, support industry organisations in performing their positive roles in promoting copyright protection, copyright transactions, self-regulation of rights protection, etc., and stringently crack down against the infringement/pirating acts of unauthorised reprinting and the illegal communication of others' works.