The Chinese government has passed a new regulation to ban the
uploading and downloading of Internet material without the
copyright holder's permission.
Under the regulation, effective from July 1, anyone uploading
texts, and performance, sound and video recordings to the Internet
for the purposes of allowing others to download, copy or use them
in some other manner must first acquire the permission of copyright
owners and pay any required fee.
The production, import and supply of devices that are capable of
evading or breaching technical measures of copyright protection and
technical services are also prohibited under the regulation, as is
deleting or changing digital material belonging to someone
else.
The regulation was developed on the principle that it must
balance the interests of copyright owners, Internet service
providers and users of copyrighted works, said an official with the
Legal Affairs Office of the State Council.
Violations of copyright through the Internet usually involves
relatively small sums of money, so the regulation has adopted the
international practice of "notice and delete" to handle disputes,
the official said.
Copyright owners can send copyright violators a written notice
and demand that Internet providers delete violators' works or links
to their works, the regulations said.
Internet providers are obliged to do so upon receipt of a valid
notice from a bona fide copyright owner.
The new regulation provides for fines up to 100,000 yuan
(US$12,500) and the confiscation of computer equipment for
copyright violation.
China is the world's second-largest Internet market after the
United States with more than 110 million users.
Last September, baidu.com, a leading Chinese search engine, was
sued by a Chinese music firm for 68,000 yuan (US$8,400) because
baidu's search function violated the Shanghai-based company's
copyright. Last month, a technology company developing MP3 download
software, Kuro, was sued in the first case involving P2P (peer to
peer) downloading in China.
(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2006)