PTC FORUM: The Online Journal of the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Foundation

CHINA / COPYRIGHT / WTO - TRIPS

European Intellectual Property Review, Vol 24 No 6, June 2002

New Amendments to the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China

Thomas Hays and Zhang Yun

In accordance with its accession to the World Trade Organisation in 1999, and to comply with its obligations on copyright protection under the TRIPS Agreement, China has amended its 1991 Copyright Law. In this article the authors set out the 60 provisions of the Chinese law, consolidating the substantial amendments made under the legislation passed in 2001. Out of the 60 provisions, few remain as they were - only 13 in all. The text, translated by the authors, is a particularly helpful work of reference. The authors point out that "overall, the amendments do what they are intended to do - incorporate into the copyright law of the People's Republic of China (the PRC) the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement. In some ways, particularly in the case of performers' and moral rights, they exceed these requirements and the requirements of the Berne and Rome Conventions." However, the authors offer a word of caution. Administrative regulations will be needed to give effect to the primary legislation creating substantive rights; and, even then, the effectiveness of the law will be governed by the speed and efficiency with which internal law enforcement and Customs officials apply the regulations themselves. The authors conclude that "future evaluations of the level of copyright protection in the PRC should take into consideration where the administrative agencies of the PRC are in the process of developing that protection and the practical problems of extending enforcement to a third of the world's population". [20067]