European copyright experts expressed their willingness to support China's efforts to design a modern copyright system on a seminar in Beijing Monday and Tuesday, which was co-sponsored by European Union (EU) and National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC).

Paul Vandoren, the head of unit for Intellectual Property Rights at directorate-general for Trade in EU, and Wang Ziqiang, the acting director general of copyright department of NCAC, exchanged their views on the training program in line with the World Trade Organization standards covering legislative, administrative and effective protection of copyright.

This year, the NCAC have sent four delegations on fact-finding trips to European members states including Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and Ireland, through which China has got an insight into trends of international cooperation in copyright.

The training program is highlighted by European best practice in copyright, such as a network of Collective Management Societies (CMS). It is useful in registering artists and cataloging their works, collecting revenue from users and then distributing fairly among the CMS members.

Moreover, the CMS has an important role in tracking piracy since it is unrealistic for artists to track down pirates alone.

"China is of particular interest on how Europe is adapting to the challenges of the Internet society, which has provided major challenges against illegal piracy," said Liu Jie, the acting director general of copyright department of NCAC.

"China needs to adopt such systems," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2004)