Copyright refers to various exclusive rights enjoyed by copyright owners over their literary, artistic and scientific works. It is a general term of property rights and personal rights of natural persons, legal persons and other organizations in literary, artistic and scientific works. Copyright is an intangible property right generated from wisdom of human beings, and is one of intellectual property rights. In China, the copyrights need not to be compulsorily registered.
The Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Copyright Law) adopted on 7th September, 1990, was amended for the first time in 2001 and for the second time in 2010. Amendment to the Copyright Law for the third time is now underway. In addition, there are many other laws, regulations, ordinances and rules about copyright in China. China has also acceded to major international copyright treaties, such as the century-old Berne Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention, and the decade-old Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS Agreement, which set minimum standards for copyright regulation.
Works Protected under Copyright Law in China
Protected works include, among other things, works of literature, art, natural science, social science, engineering and technology, created in any of the following forms:
(i) Written works
(ii) Oral works
(iii) Musical, dramatic, choreographic and acrobatic works
(iv) Works of the fine arts and architecture;
(v) Photographic works
(vi) Graphic works such as drawings of engineering designs and product designs, maps and sketches, and model works
(vii) Computer software
(viii) Other works as provided for in laws and administrative regulations
Time for Copyright Coming into Existence
Whether Chinese citizens, legal persons or other organizations publish or register their works, the copyright shall emerge on the date when their works are created.
In case of any work published by a foreigner or stateless person’s work in China firstly time within the territory of China his copyright shall be protected by Chinese laws from the day of first publication of the work in China.
Term of Protection for the Rights
No time limit is set on the term of protection for an author’s rights of authorship and revision and his right to protect the integrity of his work. In respect of a work of a citizen, the term of protection for the right of publication and the related property rights of the copyright is the lifetime of the author plus another fifty years; in respect of a work of a legal entity or other organization or a work which is created in the course of employment, such a term is fifty years from the first publication of such work; and likewise in respect of a cinematographic work.
Contact Us
If you have further inquires, please do not hesitate to contact Tannet at anytime, anywhere by simply visiting Tannet’s website english.tannet-group.com, or calling Hong Kong hotline at 852-27826888 or China hotline at 86-755-82143422, or emailing to tannet-solution@hotmail.com. You are also welcome to visit our office situated in 16/F, Taiyangdao Bldg 2020,Dongmen Rd South, Luohu , Shenzhen, China.
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