People's republic of china
Our intellectual property law is based on theCopyright lawThe trademarks act and the patents act are three laws. Copyright law of the people's republic of china
Chapter i general provisions
Article 1 - the act is based on the constitution for the protection of the copyright of authors of literary, artistic and scientific works, as well as the rights and interests relating to copyrights, and for the promotion of the development and prosperity of socialist cultural and scientific undertakings by encouraging the creation and dissemination of works that are of benefit to socialist spiritual and material civilization。
Article 2 works of chinese citizens, legal persons or illegal persons, whether published or not, enjoy copyright rights in accordance with this law. The work of foreigners is first published in china and has the right to copyright in accordance with this law。
The rights of authors of works published by foreign nationals in china are protected by this law in accordance with agreements concluded between their countries and china or international treaties to which they are parties。
Article 3 - works within the meaning of this law, including literary, artistic and natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, etc., which are made in the following forms:
(i) written works
(ii) oral works
(iii) musical, dramatic, musical and dance works
(iv) fine arts, photography
(v) film, television, video works
(vi) engineering, product design drawings and their description
(vii) graphical works such as maps, diagrams, etc.
(viii) computer software
(ix) other works provided for by law and administrative regulations。
Article 4. The publication and dissemination of works is prohibited by law and is not protected by this act. Copyright holders may exercise their copyrights without violating the constitution and laws and without prejudice to the public interest。
Article 5 this law does not apply to:
(i) laws, regulations, resolutions, decisions, orders and other documents of the state organs of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature, as well as official translations thereof
(ii) current affairs news
(iii) calendar, tabulation, common tables and formulae。
Article 6. The protection of copyright for works of folklore and art is regulated separately by the state council。
Article 7. The provisions of laws such as patent law, technical contract law, etc., which should be protected by law in scientific and technical works, apply。
Article 8. The department of copyright administration of the state council is responsible for the administration of copyright throughout the country, while the department of copyright administration of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government is responsible for the administration of copyright in the region。
Chapter ii. Copyright
Section i authors and their rights
Article 9 author rights holders include:
(i) author
(ii) other citizens, legal persons or illegal entities having copyright rights under this act。
Copyright includes the following personal and property rights:
(i) the right to publish, i. E. The right to decide whether the work is made public
(ii) the right to sign, i. E. The right to identify the author and to sign the work
(iii) the right to modify, i. E. The right to modify or authorize others to modify a work
(iv) protection of the right to the integrity of the work, i. E. The right to protection against distortion or alteration
(v) the right to use and receive remuneration, i. E. The right to use a work by means of reproduction, performance, play, exhibition, distribution, film, television, video or adaptation, translation, annotation, editing, etc.; and the right to license another person
(c) the right to use the work in the manner described above and to receive remuneration accordingly。
Section ii. Attribution of copyrights
Copyright belongs to the author, except as otherwise provided in this law. The author is a citizen. A work which is carried out by a legal person or an illegal person unit and is created on behalf of the will of the legal person or an illegal person unit and for which the legal person or an illegal person unit is responsible, is regarded as an author. In the absence of proof to the contrary, the author is a citizen, a legal person or an illegal entity under the signature of a work。
Article 12. The authorship of works resulting from the adaptation, translation, comment or organization of existing works shall be enjoyed by the author, provided that the exercise of copyright shall not infringe on the authorship of the original work。
Article 13. Copyright rights are enjoyed jointly by co-authors of works produced by two or more persons. The author cannot be a co-author without the author. Cooperative works may be used separately, and authors may have individual copyrights for their respective parts of creation, but the exercise of copyrights may not infringe on the collective copyrights of cooperative works。
Article 14 - editorial rights are enjoyed by editors, but copyright rights may not be exercised in a manner that infringes on the copyright of original works. Authors of separately usable works of edited works are entitled to exercise their copyrights individually。
Article 15: authors of films, television, video works, directors, writers, writers, composers, photographers, etc. Shall have the right to sign and other rights of copyright shall be enjoyed by producers of films, television, videos, etc。
Authors of individual works such as films, television, videos, scripts, music, etc., are entitled to exercise their copyrights alone。
Article 16. A work created by a citizen for the purpose of carrying out the work of a legal person or an illegal person is a work of an official character and, with the exception of the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, the right to copyright is enjoyed by the author, provided that the legal person or an illegal person is entitled to use it as a priority within the scope of his or her business. Within two years of the completion of the work, the author may not permit a third person to use the work in the same manner as the unit。
The author shall have the right to sign any work performed by a legal person or an illegal person in respect of which he or she is entitled and shall be entitled to an award:
(i) job works such as engineering designs, product design drawings and their descriptions, computer software, maps, etc., which are mainly created using the material and technical conditions of a legal person or an illegal person unit and for which the legal person or illegal person unit is responsible
(ii) by law, administrative law or contract, the right to work is enjoyed by a legal or illegal person。
Article 17. The attribution of copyright to works commissioned is contracted between the client and the trustee. Where the contract is not expressly agreed upon or concluded, copyright is vested in the trustee。
Article 18. The transfer of ownership of original works of art, etc., is not considered to be a transfer of copyright, but the right to exhibit the original works of art is enjoyed by the original owner。
Article 19: copyright rights belong to citizens, whose rights to use their works and to receive remuneration after death are transferred during the period of protection provided for in this law in accordance with the provisions of the law on inheritance. The right to copyright belongs to a legal person or an illegal person unit, the right to use and receive remuneration for the work of which the legal person or illegal person unit has changed or terminated, during the period of protection provided for by this act, is enjoyed by a legal person or illegal person unit that has assumed its rights or obligations; and the right of a legal person or illegal person unit that has not assumed its rights or obligations is enjoyed by the state。
Section iii. Period of protection of rights
Article 20. The right of authors to sign, to modify and to protect the integrity of their work is not limited。
Article 21. The right to publish, use and receive remuneration shall be protected for the author's life and 50 years after his death, until 31 december of the fifth decade after his death, and, in the case of cooperative works, until 31 december of the fifth decade after his death. The act no longer protects works of legal or illegal persons, works of which a legal person or an illegal person has the right to work (other than the right to sign) and works of which a legal person or an illegal person has the right to publish, use and receive remuneration, for a period of fifty years, until 31 december, the fifty-first anniversary of the first publication of the work, but which has not been published within fifty years of the completion of the work itself. The right to publish, use and receive remuneration for films, television, video and photographic works is protected for 50 years, until 31 december, the fifty-first anniversary of their first publication, but not after the completion of their own creation
