Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China has been revised due to the rapid development of technology and culture to fit the actual need and juridical practice on November 11th, 2020. There are about 8 highlighted parts of this new revision which would be listed below by Dongjin.
- New addition of the punitive damages system
Those serious situations of intentionally violation shall be punished with damages from one time to five times of statutory amount. Maximum statutory compensation has been raised to RMB 5 million, also stated that the minimum is RMB 5 hundred. When applying this rule during copyright cases, the main part shall still be remedy compensation while using punitive damages as a supplement.
- New classification as audiovisual work
As for films, TV serials and works which are made similarly than films, they are all classified into “audiovisual works” in this revision. But there is no specific definition and legal component for audiovisual work yet, the solution may be formed in further juridical practices.
- Reasonable extension for broadcast right
Both wire broadcast and online broadcast are protected in response to the current problem for live webcast copyright infringement. It shall be regulated by the domain of broadcast right if the live webcast performers cover or play works from other copyright owners without permission.
- Revision for object of work
In this revised version of Copyright Law, the definition and types of work are altered. It shall be deemed as work while the intellectual result is innovative and it could be shown in a certain form within literature, art and science. This kind of definition is the legal base of the whole Copyright Law and it truly provides an open application for various intellectual works.
- Copyright attribution of cooperative work
Cooperative work means creation with mutual subjective intent and actual creation action. It shall not be determined as cooperative work or cooperative creator if someone only provides some simple assistance on the original work. Agreement shall prevail when deciding the attribution of cooperative work, but normal spread shall not be hampered without justified reasons and profit shall go to all creators of the cooperative work while there is no agreement existed.
- Perform right attribution for actor/actress
Once actor/actress completes the performing for acting entity as work, the actor/actress shall have the right to show the identity and protect the performing images from distortion. Other rights during work time shall be arranged by agreement, or be attributed to the acting entity if there is no agreement attached.
- Collective management organization for copyright
This kind of organization is a nonprofit corporation which may claim rights for the copyright owner and the copyright-related right holder in its own name after being authorized, and may conduct litigation or arbitration activities as a party. The organization collects charge of use from users under authorization, but the management here shall not be for profitable purpose.
- Highlighting care for dyslexics
Within the range of fair use, there is a new addition as “Making published works available to people with dyslexia in a perceptible way” which fully shows the care for dyslexics group, it has been revised the word “blind” into “dyslexics” to better development the humanistic concern in Copyright Law.
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