Copyright Law of People's Republic of China

Source: English translation provided by the National Copyright Administration of China. Law adopted at the Fifteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on September 7, 1990. CHAPTER I General Provisions

Article 1. This Law is enacted, in accordance with the Constitution, for the purposes of protecting the copyright of authors in their literary, artistic and scientific works and the rights related to copyright, of encouraging the creation and dissemination of works which would contribute to the construction of socialist spiritual and material civilization, and of promoting the development and flourishing of socialist culture and sciences.

Article 2. Works of Chinese citizens, legal entities or entities without legal personality, whether published or not, shall enjoy copyright in accordance with this Law. Works of foreigners first published in the territory of the People's Republic of China shall enjoy copyright in accordance with this Law. Any work of a foreigner published outside the territory of the People's Republic of China which is eligible to enjoy copyright under an agreement concluded between the country to which the foreigner belongs and China, or under an international treaty to which both countries are party, shall be protected in accordance with this Law.

Article 3. For the purposes of this Law, the term ""works" includes works of literature, art, natural science, social science, engineering technology and the like which are expressed in the following forms:

(1) written works;

(2) oral works;

(3) musical, dramatic, quyi* and choreographic works; * Quyi refers to such traditional art forms as ballad singing, story telling, comic dialogues, clapper talks and cross talks (translator's note).

(4) works of fine art and photographic works;

(5) cinematographic, television and videographic works;

(6) drawings of engineering designs and product designs, and descriptions thereof;

(7) maps, sketches and other graphic works;

(8) computer software;

(9) other works as provided for in laws and administrative regulations.

Article 4. Works the publication or distribution of which is prohibited by law shall not be protected by this Law. Copyright owners, in exercising their copyright, shall not violate the Constitution or laws or prejudice the public interest.

Article 5. This Law shall not be applicable to:

(1) laws; regulations; resolutions, decisions and orders of state organs; other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature; and their official translations;

(2) news on current affairs; and

(3) calendars, numerical tables, forms of general use and formulas.

Article 6. Regulations for the protection of copyright in expressions of folklore shall be established separately by the State Council.

Article 7. Where any scientific or technological work is protected under the Patent Law, the Law on Technology Contracts or similar laws, the provisions of those laws shall apply.

Article 8. The copyright administration department under the State Council shall be responsible for the nationwide administration of copyright. The copyright administration department of the People's Government of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for the administration of copyright in its administrative area. CHAPTER II Copyright Section 1 - Copyright Owners and Their Rights

Article 9. The term "copyright owners" shall include:

(1) authors;

(2) other citizens, legal entities and entities without legal personality enjoying copyright in accordance with this Law.

Article 10. The term "copyright" shall include the following personality rights and property rights:

(1) the right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether to make a work available to the public;

(2) the right of authorship, that is, the right to claim authorship and to have the author's name mentioned in connection with the work;

(3) the right of alteration, that is, the right to alter or authorize others to alter one's work;

(4) the right of integrity, that is, the right to protect one's work against distortion and mutilation;

(5) the right of exploitation and the right to remuneration, that is, the right of exploiting one's work by reproduction, live performance, broadcasting, exhibition, distribution, making cinematographic, television or video production, adaptation, translation, annotation, compilation and the like, and the right of authorizing others to exploit one's work by the above-mentioned means and of receiving remuneration therefor. Section 2 - Ownership of Copyright

Article 11. Except where otherwise provided in this Law, the copyright in a work shall belong to its author. The author of a work is the citizen who has created the work . Where a work is created according to the intention and under the supervision and responsibility of a legal entity or entity without legal personality, such legal entity or entity without legal personality shall be deemed to be the author of the work. The citizen, legal entity or entity without legal personality whose name is mentioned in connection with a work shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to be the author of the work .

Article 12. Where a work is created by adaptation, translation, annotation or arrangement of a preexisting work, the copyright in the work thus created shall be enjoyed by the adapter, translator, annotator or arranger, provided that the exercise of such copyright shall not prejudice the copyright in the original work.

Article 13. Where a work is created jointly by two or more coauthors, the copyright in the work shall be enjoyed jointly by those coauthors. Coauthorship may not be claimed by anyone who has not participated in the creation of the work . If a work of joint authorship can be separated into independent parts and exploited separately, each coauthor shall be entitled to independent copyright in the parts that he has created, provided that the exercise of such copyright shall not prejudice the copyright in the joint work as a whole.

Article 14. The copyright in a work created by compilation shall be enjoyed by the compiler, provided that the exercise of such copyright shall not prejudice the copyright in the preexisting works included in the compilation. The authors of such works included in a compilation as can be exploited separately shall be entitled to exercise their copyright in their works independently.

Article 15. The director, scriptwriter, lyricist, composer, cameraman and other authors of a cinematographic, television or videographic work shall enjoy the right of authorship in the work, while the other rights included in the copyright shall be enjoyed by the producer of the work. The authors of the screenplay, musical works and other works that are included in a cinematographic, television or videographic work and can be exploited separately shall be entitled to exercise their copyright independently.

Article 16. A work created by a citizen in the fulfillment of tasks assigned to him by a legal entity or entity without legal personality shall be deemed to be a work created in the course of employment. The copyright in such work shall be enjoyed by the author, subject to the provisions of the second paragraph of this Article, provided that the legal entity or entity without legal personality shall have a priority right to exploit the work within the scope of its professional activities. During