Order ofthe President of the People's Republic of China No.26

February 26, 2010

(Adopted at the 15th Session of the Standing Committee of the 7th National People's Congress on September 7, 1990, amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China made at the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress on October 27, 2001)

(Amended for the second time in accordance with the Decisions on Amending the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China made at the 13th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th Nationa lPeople's Congress on February 26, 2010)

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Copyright
Section 1 Copyright Owners and Their Rights
Section 2 Ownership of Copyright
Section 3 Protection Period of the Rights
Section 4 Limitation of the Rights
Chapter III Copyright Licensing and Assignment Contracts
Chapter IV Publication, Performances, Audio or Video Recordings and Broadcast
Section 1 Publication of Books, Newspapers and Periodicals
Section 2 Performances
Section 3 Audio and Video Recordings
Section 4 Broadcasts by Radio or Television Stations
Chapter V Legal Liability and Enforcement Measures
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

                          Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution in order to protect the copyright of authors in their literary, artistic and scientific works and the copyright-related rights and interests, to encourage the creation and dissemination of works that are beneficial to the development of socialist spiritual and material civilization,and to promote the development and prosperity of the socialist science and culture.

Article 2 Works of Chinese citizens, legal persons or other organizations, whether published or not, enjoy copyright under this Law. 
The copyright enjoyed by foreigners or stateless persons in their works in accordance with the agreement between their home country or country of habitual residence and China, or in accordance with an international treaty to which both countries are parties, is protected under this Law. 
Works of foreigners or stateless persons which are first published in the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as China) enjoy copyright under this Law. 
Any work of an author whose country has not entered into an agreement with China or is not a party to an international treaty to which China is a party, or any work of a stateless person, which is first published in a country that is a party to an international treaty to which China is a party, or is simultaneously published in a signatory country and a non-signatory country, are protected under this Law.

Article 3 For the purposes of this Law, the term "works" shall include works of literature, art, natural science,social science and engineering technology, etc., which are created in any of the following forms: 
1. Written works; 
2. Oral works; 
3. Musical works, dramatic works, quyi (folkart), choreographic works and acrobatic works; 
4. Works of fine arts and architectural works;
5. Photographic works;
6. Cinematographic works and works created by aprocess analogous to cinematography; 
7. Graphic works such as drawings of engineeringdesigns, drawings of product designs, maps and schematic drawings, and modelworks; 
8. Computer software; and
9. Other works as provided for by the laws andadministrative regulations.

Article 4 In exercising copyright, copyright owners shall notviolate the Constitution and the laws, nor damage the public interests. TheState supervises and administers the publication and dissemination of the worksin compliance with the law.

Article 5 This Law does not apply to: 
1. Laws and regulations; resolutions, decisionsand orders of government organs and other documents of a legislative,administrative or judicial nature; and official translations thereof; 

2. News of current events; and 
3. Calendars, numerical tables or forms of general use, and formulas.

Article 6 Measures for the protection of copyright in folk literary and artistic works shall be formulated separately by the StateCouncil.

Article 7 The copyright administrative department of the State Council is in charge of the administration of copyrights nationwide. Thecopyright administrative departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the CentralGovernment are responsible for the administration of copyrights within their respective administrative area.

Article 8 Copyright owners and copyright-related rights holders may authorize a copyright collective administration organization to exercise their copyright or the related rights.After authorization, a copyright collective administration organization may, inits own name, claim the rights for a copyright owner or a copyright-related rights holder and act as a party in litigation or arbitration involving the copyright or the copyright-related rights. 
A copyright collective administration organization is a non-profit organization, and its method of establishment,rights and obligations, collection and distribution of copyright royalties, and supervision and administration, etc. shall be separately formulated by the State Council.

                          Chapter II Copyright 

Section 1Copyright Owners and Their Rights

Article 9 The term "copyright owners" shall include: 
1. Authors; and 
2. Other citizens, legal persons and otherorganizations that enjoy copyright under this Law.

Article10 The term "copyright"shall include the following personal rights and property rights: 
1. The right of publication, i.e., the right todecide whether or not to make a work available to the public; 
2. The right of authorship, i.e., the right toaffix one's name to a work to indicate the author's identity; 
3. The right of revision, i.e., the right torevise or authorize others to revise one's work; 
4. The right of integrity, i.e., the right toprotect one's work against misrepresentation and distortion; 
5. The right of reproduction, i.e., the right tomake one or more copies of one's work through such means as printing,photocopying, rubbing, making an audio recording, making a video recording,duplicating a recording, reproducing by photographic or cinematographic means,etc.; 
6. The right of distribution, i.e., the right toprovide the original or reproduction of one's work to the public by means ofsale or gift; 
7. The right of rent, i.e., the right to permitothers to temporarily use one's cinematographic work, work created by a processanalogous to cinematography or computer software for consideration, exceptwhere the computer software itself is not the essential object of the rentalarrangement; 
8. The right of exhibition, i.e., the right topublicly display the original or a reproduction of one's work of fine art orphotographic work; 

9. The right of performance, i.e., the right to publicly perform one's work or to publicly broadcast the performance of one's work by various means; 
10. The right of projection, i.e., the right to publicly show one's work of fine art, photographic work, cinematographic work or work created by a process analogous to cinematography by means of technical equipment such as a film projector, slide projector, etc.; 
11. The right of broadcasting, i.e., the right to publicly broadcast or communicate one's work by means of wireless or wire dissemination, rebroadcasting and to communicate one's broadcast work to the public through a loudspeaker or any other analogous instrument used to transmit symbols, sounds or images; 
12. The right of communication of information via network, i.e., the right to make one's work available to the public by wire or wireless means, enabling members of the public to access the work from a place at a time chosen by them; 
13. The right of cinematization, i.e., the right to fix a work in a medium using a cinematographic process or a process analogous to cinematography; 
14. The right of adaptation, i.e., the right to change one's work and thereby create a new original work; 
15. The right of translation, i.e., the right to convert one's work from one language to another language; 
16. The right of compilation, i.e., the right to render one's work or extracts of one's work into a new work through selection or arrangement and assembly; and 
17. Other rights to which a copyright owner is entitled. 
A copyright owner may permit others to exercise the rights specified in Items (5) to (17) of the preceding paragraph and receive remuneration pursuant to an agreement or the relevant provisions of this Law. 
A copyright owner may assign, in part or in whole, the rights specified in Items (5) to (17) of Paragraph 1 of this Article and receive remuneration pursuant to an agreement or the relevant provisions of this Law.

Section 2 Ownership of Copyright
　
Article 11 Unless otherwise provided for by this Law, the copyright in a work vests in its author. 
The author of a work is the citizen who has created the work. 
Where a work is created according to the will and under the charge and responsibility of a legal person or other organization, the legal person or other organization shall be deemed to be the author thereof. 
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the citizen, legal person or other organization that put their name to a work is the author of the work.
　
Article 12 The copyright in a work created through the adaptation, translation, annotation or arrangement of a pre-existing work vests in the adaptor, translator, annotator or arranger, provided that the exercise of such copyright does not prejudice the copyright in the original work.
　
Article 13 The copyright in a work jointly created by two or more co-authors is owned jointly by the co-authors. Whoever has not participated in the creation of such work may not claim the co-authorship of the work. 
Where a joint work can be separated for use, each co-author may hold independent copyright in the part that he has created, provided that his exercise of such copyright does not prejudice the copyright in the joint work as a whole.
　
Article 14 Compilations of certain works, extracts from works, or data or other materials that do not constitute a work are works of compilation, provided that they show originality in terms of the selection or arrangement of their contents. The copyright in a work of compilation vests in the compiler, provided that the compiler's exercise of such copyright does not prejudice the copyright in the original works.
　
Article 15 The copyright in a cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography vests in the producer of such work. However, the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, lyricist, composer, and other authors there enjoy the right of authorship in the work, and have the right to receive remuneration pursuant to the contract entered into with the producer. 
The authors of the screenplay, musical work and other works that form part of a cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography and can be used separately have the right to exercise their copyright independently.
　
Article 16 Any work created by a citizen in order to accomplish a task assigned to him by a legal person or other organization is a work created during employment, and, subject to the provisions of Paragraph 2 of this Article, the copyright of such work vests in the author thereof, provided that the legal person or other organization has the prior right to use such work within the scope of its business. Within two years after the completion of such work, the author may not authorize, without the consent of the entity, any third party to use the work in the same way in which it is used by the entity. 
With respect to any of the following works created during employment, the right of authorship vests in the author and the other rights under the copyright vest in the legal person or other organization, and such legal person or other organization may reward the author: 
1. Drawings of engineering designs, drawings of product designs, maps, computer software, and other works created during employment, which are created mainly by using the material and technical resources of a legal person or other organization and the responsibility for which is borne by such legal person or other organization; and
2. Work created during employment in which the copyright vests in a legal person or other organization pursuant to the provisions of a law, administrative regulation or contract.

Article17 The ownership of the copyright ina commissioned work shall be agreed upon in a contract between thecommissioning party and the commissioned party. Where the contract does notexpressly provide for ownership or where no contract is concluded, copyrightshall vest in the commissioned party.

Article18 No transfer of ownership of anoriginal work of fine art [or a comparable work] shall be deemed to be atransfer of the copyright in the work, except that the right to exhibit theoriginal work shall vest in the owner of the original.

Article19 Where copyright in a work vests ina citizen, the rights as stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraphof Article 10 of this Law, upon the citizen's death, shall pass in accordancewith the Law of Succession of the People' Republic of China during the period of protectionprovided for in this Law. 
Where copyright of a work vests in a legalperson or other organization, its rights as stipulated in Items (5) to (17) ofthe first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall, upon the change or windingup of such legal person or other organization, vest in the legal person orother organization that assumes the rights and obligations of the predecessorlegal person or other organization or, if no legal person or other organizationassumes such rights and obligations, in the state, during the period ofprotection provided for in this Law.

Section 3Period of Protection

Article20 An author's rights of attribution,revision and integrity shall continue in perpetuity.

Article21 A citizen's right of publicationand the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph ofArticle 10 of this Law in respect of a work shall be protected for a periodconsisting of the author's lifetime and 50 years after the author's death,ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the author's death. In the eventof a joint work, such period shall end on December 31st of the 50th year afterthe death of the last surviving author. 
The right of publication and the rightsstipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of thisLaw in respect of a work of a legal person or other organization, or anoccupational work in which the copyright (other than the right of attribution)is vested in a legal person or other organization, shall be protected for aperiod of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date onwhich the work is first published, but if such work is not published within 50years after its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law. 
The right of publication and the rightsstipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of thisLaw in respect of a cinematographic work, a work created by a process analogousto cinematography or a photographic work shall be protected for a period of 50years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the date on which thework is first published, but if such work is not published within 50 yearsafter its completion, it shall no longer be protected under this Law.

Section 4Limitation of Rights

Article22 In the following circumstances, awork may be used without the permission and without the payment of remunerationto the copyright owner, but the name of the author and the title of the workshall be indicated and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner byvirtue of this Law shall not be prejudiced: 
1. Use of a published work for the purpose ofindividual study, research or enjoyment; 
2. Appropriate quotation from a published work,where such quotation is used to introduce or comment on certain works or toexplain a certain issue; 
3. Unavoidable representation or quotation bymedia such as newspapers, periodicals, radio stations, television stations,etc., of a published work where such representation or quotation is carried outfor the purpose of reporting current events; 
4. Printing or broadcast by media such asnewspapers, periodicals, radio stations and television stations of an articleon a current political, economic or religious topic already published by amedium such as another newspaper, periodical, radio station or televisionstation, except where the author has declared that the printing or broadcast ofsuch article is not permitted; 
5. Printing or broadcasting by media such asnewspapers, periodicals, radio stations and television stations of a speechdelivered at a public gathering, except where the author has declared that theprinting or broadcast thereof is not permitted; 
6. Translation, or reproduction of a smallnumber of copies of a published work where such translation or reproduction ismade for the purpose of classroom teaching or scientific research and is to beused by teachers or scientific researchers, provided that such translation orreproduction is not published and distributed; 
7. A state entity's reasonable use of apublished work for the purpose of carrying out official duties; 
8. Reproduction by a library, archives, memorialhall, museum, art gallery, etc., of a work in its collection where reproductionis for the purpose of exhibiting or preserving an edition of such work; 
9. Gratuitous performance of a published workwhere no charge is collected from the public nor any remuneration paid to theperformers for the performance; 
10. Copying, painting, photographing orvideotaping of a work of art placed or exhibited at an outdoor public place; 
11. Translation of a work already published by aChinese citizen, legal person or other organization and created in the Hanlanguage [Chinese] into a work in the language of a domestic minority ethnicgroup, and publication and distribution within China of such translation; and 
12. Translation of a published work into Braillefor publication. 
The limitations of rights stipulated in thepreceding paragraph shall apply to publishers, performers, producers of audioand/or video recordings, radio stations and television stations.

Article23 For the purposes of thecompilation and publication of textbooks under the nine year system ofcompulsory education and state educational plans, unless the author hasdeclared that use is not permitted, the textbooks may contain compilations ofextracts of published works, or compilations of published short written works,musical works, single works of fine art and/or photographic works without thepermission of the copyright owner, provided that remuneration is paid inaccordance with applicable provisions, the name of the author and the title ofthe work are indicated, and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright ownerunder this Law are not infringed. 
The limitations of rights stipulated in thepreceding paragraph shall apply to publishers, performers, producers of audioand/or video recordings, radio stations and television stations.

             Chapter III Copyright Licensingand Copyright Assignment Contracts

Article24 Unless and otherwise stipulated bythe provisions of this law, any person who wishes to use the work of anothershall conclude a licensing contract with the copyright owner. 
A licensing contract shall include the followingmain terms: 
1. The type(s) of right(s) being licensed; 
2. Whether the license is exclusive ornon-exclusive; 
3. The geographic scope and term of the license; 
4. The amount and method of remuneration; 
5. Liability for breach of contract; and 
6. Other terms which the parties considernecessary.

Article25 Assignment of any of the rightsstipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of thisLaw shall require the conclusion of a written contract thereon. 
A contract of assignment of rights shall includethe following main terms: 
1. The title of the work; 
2. The right(s) being assigned and thegeographic scope thereof; 
3. The assignment price; 
4. The date and method of payment of theassignment price; 
5. Liability for breach of contract; and 
6. Other terms which the parties considernecessary.

Article26 In the event that the copyright ispledged, both the pledgor and pledgee shall register the pledge with thecopyright administrative authorities of the State Council.

Article27 Without the consent of thecopyright owner, the other party may not exercise any right that the copyrightowner has not explicitly licensed or assigned in the licensing or assignmentcontract.

Article28 The rate of remuneration for theuse of a work may be agreed upon by the parties or remuneration may be paid inaccordance with the rate of remuneration established by the copyrightadministrative department of the State Council [the National CopyrightAdministration] in conjunction with other relevant departments. Where theagreement between the parties is unclear, remuneration shall be paid inaccordance with the rate of remuneration established by the copyrightadministrative department of the State Council [the National CopyrightAdministration] in conjunction with other relevant departments.

Article29 Publishers, performers, producersof audio and/or video recordings, radio stations, television stations, etc.,who use the works of others pursuant to the relevant provisions of this Lawshall not infringe an author's right to attribution, revision or integrity orthe right to receive remuneration.

    Chapter IV Publications,Performances,Audioand Video Recordings and Broadcast

Section 1Publication of Books, Newspapers and Periodicals

Article30 Any book publisher who seeks topublish a book shall enter into a publication contract with the copyright ownerand pay the remuneration thereof.

Article31 The exclusive contractual rightenjoyed by the book publisher to publish a work delivered to it for publicationby the copyright owner shall be protected by law and the work may not bepublished by any other party.

Article32 The copyright owner shall deliverthe work within the time limit specified in the contract. The book publishershall publish the book in accordance with the qualitative requirements and timelimit specified in the contract. 
The book publisher shall assume civil liabilityin accordance with Article 54 of this Law if it fails to publish the bookwithin the time limit specified in the contract.
Where the work is reprinted or republished, thecopyright owner shall be notified and remuneration shall be paid. Where thepublisher refuses to reprint or republish the book when it is out of stock, thecopyright owner shall have the right to terminate the contract.

Article33 Where a copyright owner submits amanuscript to a newspaper or periodical and does not receive notification ofits decision to publish within 15 or 30 days after the submission, thecopyright owner may offer the same manuscript to another newspaper orperiodical, unless the agreement between the two parties stated otherwise. 
Any work that has been printed by a newspaper orperiodical may be reprinted, abstracted or printed as reference material byanother newspaper or periodical unless the copyright owner has declared thatreprints or excerpts are not permitted, provided the copyright owner shall beremunerated in accordance with the applicable provisions.

Article34 Publishers may revise or abridge awork with the permission of the copyright owner. 
Newspapers and periodicals may revise or abridgea work for reasons of style, but must obtain the author's permission to revisethe contents thereof.

Article35 To publish a work created throughthe adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement or compilation of apre-existing work, the permission of the owners of the copyrights in both theadapted, translated, annotated, arranged or compiled work and the original workshall be obtained and remuneration paid.

Article36 A publisher shall have the rightto permit or forbid others to use the layout of a book or periodical itpublishes. 
The period of protection for the rightsspecified in the preceding paragraph shall be 10 years, ending on December 31stof the 10th year after the first date on which the book or periodical ispublished using the said layout.

Section 2Performances

Article37 A performer (a performingindividual or work unit) who wishes to use another's work for a performanceshall obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration. When aperformance organizer organizes a performance, the organizer shall obtainpermission from the copyright owner and pay the remuneration thereof. 
When a work created through the adaptation,translation, annotation or collation of a pre-existing work is to be performed,the permission of the owners of the copyrights in both the adapted, translated,annotated or collated work and the original work shall be obtained andremuneration paid.

Article38 A performer shall have thefollowing rights in his performance: 
1. To indicate the identity of the performer; 
2. To protect the form of his performance fromdistortion; 
3. To authorize others to make a live broadcastof and publicly transmit his live performance, and to receive remunerationthereof; 
4. To authorize others to make audio or videorecordings, and to receive remuneration thereof; 
5. To permit others to reproduce and/ordistribute an audio or video recording of his performance, and to receiveremuneration thereof; and 
6. To permit others to broadcast his performanceto the public via an information network and to receive remuneration thereof. 
Where a licensee uses a work in accordance withany of Items (3) to (6) of the preceding paragraph, he shall also obtainpermission from the copyright owner and pay the remuneration thereof.

Article39 The period of protection for therights specified in Items (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of Article 37shall be in perpetuity. 
The period of protection for the rightsspecified in Items (3) to (6) of the first paragraph of Article 37 shall be 50years, ending on December 31st of the 50th year after the relevant performancetakes place.

Section 3Audio and Video Recordings

Article 40 Any producer of audio or video recordings that wishesto use another's work to produce an audio or video recording shall obtainpermission from the copyright owner and pay the remuneration thereof. 
When a producer of audio or video recordingsuses a work produced from the adaptation, translation, annotation orarrangement of a pre-existing work, it shall obtain permission from the ownersof the copyrights in both the adapted, translated, annotated or arranged workand the original work, and pay the remuneration thereof. 
When a producer of audio recordings produces anaudio recording of a musical work that has previouslybeen lawfully recorded as an audio recording, it need not obtain permissionfrom the copyright owner, but shall pay remuneration in accordance withapplicable provisions, except where the copyright owner has declared that theuse is not permitted.

Article41 Any producer of audio or videorecordings that wishes to produce an audio or video recording shall conclude acontract with the performer and pay the remuneration thereof.

Article42 Any producer of audio or videorecordings shall have the right to license others to reproduce, distribute orrent out an audio or video recording it produces or broadcasts the same to thepublic via an information network and the right to receive remunerationthereof. Such rights shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending onDecember 31st of the 50th year after the completion of the first production ofsuch recording. 
Where a licensee reproduces or distributes anaudio or video recording or broadcasts the same to the public via aninformation network, it shall also obtain permission from the copyright ownerand the performer and pay the remuneration thereof.

Section 4Broadcasts by Radio or Television Stations

Article43 Any radio or television stationthat wishes to broadcast another's unpublished work shall obtain permissionfrom the copyright owner and pay remuneration. 
Radio or television station that wishes tobroadcast another's published work does not have to obtain permission from thecopyright owner, but shall pay the remuneration thereof.

Article44 Radio or television station thatwishes to broadcast a published sound recording does not need to obtainpermission from the copyright owner, but shall pay remuneration thereof, unlessthe parties have agreed otherwise. Specific measures thereof shall beformulated by the State Council.

Article45 Any radio or television stationshall have the right to prohibit the following actions carried out without itspermission: 
1. Rebroadcasting of its radio or televisionbroadcasts; 
2. Recording its radio or television broadcastsonto an audio or video medium and reproducing the audio or video medium. 
The rights described in the preceding paragraphshall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on December 31st of the50th year after the first transmission of such radio or television broadcast.

Article46 Television station that wishes tobroadcast another's cinematographic work, work created by a process analogousto cinematography or video recording shall obtain permission from the producerthereof and pay remuneration. In the event of broadcasting another's videorecording, the permission of the copyright owner shall also be obtained and theremuneration paid.


            Chapter V Legal Liability andEnforcement Measures

Article47 Any person who commits any of thefollowing infringements shall, according to the circumstances of the case,undertake to cease the infringement, take remedial action, offer an apology,pay damages, etc: 
1. Publishing a work without permission from theowner of the copyright therein; 
2. Publishing a joint work as a work createdsolely by oneself without permission from the other co-author(s); 
3. Passing off as the author for anotherperson's work in pursuit of recognition and profit even though one has notparticipated in the creation of such work; 
4. Distorting or tampering with the work ofanother; 
5. Plagiarizing another's work; 
6. Unless this Law provides otherwise, using awork for an exhibition, cinematization, a process analogous to cinematization,or similar, or using a work by way of adaptation, translation, annotation,etc., without permission from the copyright owner; 
7. Using another's work without payingremuneration when remuneration should be paid; 
8. Unless this Law provides otherwise, renting acinematographic work, a work created by a process analogous to cinematography,computer software or a sound or video recording without the permission of theowner of the copyright or the related rights therein; 
9. Using the layout of a published book orperiodical without permission from the publisher; 
10. Broadcasting a performer's performance liveor publicly transmitting his live performance or a recording of his performancewithout his permission; or 
11. Any other infringement of a copyright or therelated rights.