(Promulgated by Decree No. 359 of the State Council of the
People's Republic of China on August 2, 2002, and effective as of
September 15, 2002)
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.
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 programs;
(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 without 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.
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 term "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.
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.
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.
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 programs.
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.
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.
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.
(State Council)
