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Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations for the 
Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China  
(Adopted at the 231st Executive Meeting of the State Council on January 16, 2013, 
promulgated by Decree No. 633 of the State Council of the People ’s Republic of China 
on January 30, 2013, and effective as of March 1, 2013)  
 
    The State Council decides to amend the Regulations for the Implementation of the 
Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China  as follows:  
    Article 36 is amended to read: “Where any act of infringement is committed as 
enumerated in Article 48 of the Copyright Law, which also prejudices the social or 
public interests , and the illegal turnover is not less than 50,000 yuan, the administrative 
depar tment for copyright may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than 
five times the illegal turnover ; if there is no illegal turnover or the illegal turnover is 
not more than 50,000 yuan, the administrative department for copyright may impose a 
fine of not more than 250,000 yuan  in light of the seriousness of the circumstances. ” 
    This Decision shall be effective as of March 1, 2013.  
    The Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People ’s 
Republic of China  shall be ame nded according to this Decision and be promulgated 
anew.  
 
 
Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People ’s 
Republic of China  
(Promulgated by Decree No. 359 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of 
China on August 2 , 2002 , revised for the first time in accordance with the Decision of 
the State Council on Annulling and Amending Certain Administrative Regulations on 
January 8, 2011, and revised for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the 
State Council on Amending the Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright 
Law of the People’s Republic of China on January 30, 2013 ) 2 
  
    Article 1   These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Copyright 
Law of the People ’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred  to as “the Copyright 
Law”). 
    Article 2   The term “works ” as referred to  in the Copyright Law means 
intellectual creations with originality in the literary, artistic or scientific domain, 
insofar as they can be  reproduced in a tangible form.  
    Article  3  The term “creation ” as referred to  in the Copyright Law means 
intellectual activities in which literary, artistic or scientific works  are directly created . 
    Any organizational activity , consultation, material support or other auxiliary 
services cond ucted or offered for another  person’ s creation shall not be deemed as 
creation.  
    Article 4   For the purposes of the Copyright Law and these Regulations, the 
following expressions concerning works shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to 
them:  
    (1) “written works ” means works expressed in written form, such as novels, 
poems, essays and theses;  
    (2) “oral works ” means works expressed  in form of spoken language , such as 
impromptu speeches, lectures and court debates;  
    (3) “musical works ” means  such works as  songs and  symphonic works, with or 
without accompanying words, which can be sung or performed;  
    (4) “dramatic works ” means such works as dramas, operas and local traditional 
operas for stage performance;  
    (5) “qu yi works ” means such w orks as “xiang sheng ” (cross talk), “kuai shu” 
(clapper talk), “da gu” (ballad singing with drum accompaniment) and “ping shu” 
(story telling based on novels), which are mainly performed by recitation or singing, or  
by both;  
    (6) “choreographic works ” means works in which ideas  and feeling s are or can be 
expressed through  successive body movements, gestures , facial movements , etc; 
    (7) “acrobatic works ” means works  expressed through  body movements and skills, 3 
 such as acrobatics, magic and circus ; 
    (8) “works of fine arts ” means two - or three -dimensional works of the plastic arts 
created in lines, colours or other media which impart aesthetic effect, such as paintings, 
works of calligraphy and  sculptures ; 
    (9) “works of architecture ” means works w ith aesthetic effect which are expressed 
in form of buildings or structures;  
    (10) “photographic works ” means artistic works created by recording images of 
objects on light -sensitive or other materials with the aid of devices;  
    (11) “cinematographic  works and works created by a process analogous to 
cinematography ” means  works which are recorded on some material , consisting of a 
series of images, with or without accompanying sound, and which can be projected 
with the aid of suitable devices  or communic ated by other means ; 
    (12) “graphic works ” means such works as drawing s of engineering designs and 
product designs  for the purpose of actual construction and manufacturing , and as maps  
and sketches  showing geographical phenomena  and demonstrating the fu ndamentals or 
the structure of a thing or an object ; 
    (13) “model works ” means three -dimensional works  made on the basis of  the 
shape  and the structure of an object to a certain scale, for the purpose of display, test or 
observation.  
    Article 5   For the purposes of the Copyright Law and these Regulations, the 
following expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them:  
    (1) “news on current affair s” means the mere facts or happenings conveyed 
through  the media such as newspapers, perio dicals and radio and television 
programmes;  
    (2) “sound recording s” means aural fixation s of sounds of performance s or of 
other sound s; 
    (3) “video recordings ” means fixation s of a connected series of related images  or 
pictures , with or without accom panying sounds, other than cinematographic works  and 
works created by a process analogous to cinematography ; 
    (4) “producer of sound recordings ” means the person who first makes the sound 4 
 recordings;  
    (5) “producer of vi deo recordings ” means the person who first makes the video 
recordings;  
    (6) “performer ” means an actor , or a performing group or any other person who 
performs literary or artistic works.  
    Article 6   A copyright shall subsist  on the date when a work is created.  
    Article 7   Works of foreigner s or stateless person s first published in the territory 
of China , as provided in the third paragraph of Article 2 of the Copyright Law , shall be 
protected  from the date of the first publication of the work s. 
    Article 8   Where a work of a foreigner  or a stateless person  first published 
outside the territory of China is published in the territory of China within 30 days 
thereafter, it shall be deemed published  simultaneously  in the territory of China.  
    Article 9   Where a work of joint auth orship  cannot be separated into parts and 
exploited  separately , the copyright  therein shall be enjoyed by the co -authors and 
exercised under  a unanimous agreement;  where  an agreement  thereupon cannot be 
reached through consultation , any party may not , with out justifications,  prevent the 
other party or parties from exercising the copyright , except the transfer right ; however , 
the gain s thus obtained  shall be distributed reasonably among all the co-authors.  
    Article 10   Where a copyright owner authorize s another  person  to make , based 
on his works,  cinematographic works or works created by a process analogous to 
cinematography , it is deemed that he has permitted h im to make necessary alteration of 
his works, insofar as such alteration does not distort  or mut ilate the original work s. 
    Article 11   The term “tasks” as referred to in the first paragraph of Article 16 of 
the Copyright Law regarding a work  created in the course of employment means the 
duties the citizen shall fulfill in the legal person  or organ ization by which  he is 
employed.  
    The term “material and technical resources ” as referred to  in the second paragraph 
of Article 16 of the Copyright Law regarding a work  created in the cour se of 
employment  mean s the funds, equipment or materials purposel y provided to the citizen 
by the legal person  or organization by which he is employed for the creation of a work.  5 
     Article 12   Where, within two years after the completion of a work created in 
the course of employment, the author, with the consent by th e entity he belongs to , 
authorizes a third party to exploit his work in the same manner as the entity may have, 
the remuneration obtained therefrom shall be divided between the author and the entity 
according to the agreed proportions.  
    The period  of tw o years after the completion of the work shall be calculated from 
the date on which the author  submit s the work to the entity.  
    Article 13   In the case of a work of an unidentified author, the copyright, except 
the right of authorship, shall be exercise d by the owner of the original copy of the work. 
Where the author is identified, the copyright shall be exercised by the author or  his 
successor . 
    Article 14   Where one of the co -authors of a work dies without a ny successor or  
legatee , the right s he enj oyed in the work as stipulated in s ubparagraphs (5) through 
(17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Copyright Law shall be exercised by the 
other co -authors.  
    Article 15   The right of authorship, the right of revision and the right of integrity  
included in a copyright  shall, after the death of the author, be protected by his 
successor or legatee . 
    In the absence of a successor or legatee , the right of authorship, the right of 
revision and the right of integrity  included in a copyright  shall b e protected by the 
administrati ve departments  for copyright . 
    Article 16   The exploitation  of a work the c opyright  in which is enjoyed by the 
State shall be manag ed by the administrati ve department for copyright of the State 
Council . 
    Article 17   In the case of a posthumous work, the right of publication may be 
exercised by the author ’s successor or legatee  within a period of 50 years  after the 
death of the author , unless the author had expressly stated otherwise ; in the absence of 
a successor or legatee, the said right shall be exercised by the owner  of the original 
copy of the work.  
    Article 18   In the case of a work of an unidentified author, the term of protection 6 
 for the rights of such an author as provided i n subparagraphs (5) through (17) of the 
first paragraph of Article 10 of the Copyright Law shall expire on December 31 of the 
50th year after the first publication of the work. The provisions of Article 21 of the 
Copyright Law shall be applicable after the author of the work has been identif ied. 
    Article 19   Anyone who exploit s another person ’s work  shall  clearly  indicate the 
name of the author and the title of the work , except  where  the parties  agree  otherwise  
or the indication cannot be undertaken due to the special character istic of the manner 
of exploit ing the work.  
    Article 20   The term “published work ” as referred to  in the Copyright Law  
mean s a work which has been made available to the public by the copyright owner 
himself or under his permission.  
    Article 21   The exploitation  of a published work which may be exploit ed 
without permission from the copyright owner in accordance with the relevant 
provisions of the Copyright Law shall not impair  the normal exploitation of the work 
concerned , nor unreasonably prejudice  the legitimate  interests of the copyright owner.  
    Article 22   The rates of remuneration for the exploitation of works in 
accord ance with the provisions of Article 23, the second paragraph of Article 3 3 and 
the third paragraph of Article 40 of the Copyright Law shall be fixed  and issued  by the  
administrati ve department for copyright of the State Council jointly  with the competent 
department for pricing of the State Council.  
    Article 23   Anyone who exploit s another person ’s work  shall conclude a 
licensing contract with the copyright owner , and the contract  shall be made in written 
form  insofar as  the right license d for exploit ing the work has an exclusive  nature , 
except where  the work is to be published in a newspaper or a periodical.  
    Article 24   The contents of a n exclusive right of exploitation provided  in Article 
24 of the Copyright Law shall be agreed upon  by the contract. In the absence of such 
an agreement or of any clear agreement thereupon  in the contract, it shall be deemed 
that t he licensee  has the right to prevent any other person, including the copyright 
owner  himself , from exploit ing the work in the same manner ; unless otherwise agreed 
in the contract, the sublicensing of the same right to a third party by the licensee shall 7 
 be subject to the permission  from  the copyright owner.  
    Article 25   An exclusive licensing contract and a copyright transfer contract 
concluded with the copyright owner may be filed with the administrati ve department s 
for copyright  for the record.  
    Article 26   The term “r ights and interests related to copyright ” as referred to  in 
the Copyright Law and these Regulations mean s the right s enjoyed by publishers in the 
typographical  design s of their book s or periodicals , the right s enjoyed by performers in 
their performances, the rig hts enjoyed by producers of sound and vi deo recordings in 
their sound  and vi deo recording s, and the right s enjoyed by radio and television 
stations in their broadcast ing programme s. 
    Article 27   Publishers, performers, producers of sound  and vi deo recor dings , and 
radio and television stations, in the course of exercising their rights, shall not prejudice  
the rights of the copyright owners  in the works being exploit ed and  in the original 
work s. 
    Article 28   Where it is agreed in a book publishing contr act that the book 
publisher enjoys an exclusive publishing right but its particular contents are  not 
specified, it shall be deemed that the book publisher has the ex clusive right to publish a 
book  in the same language and in the form of original  or revised  version, within the 
term of validity of the contract and the territory  defined by the contract.  
    Article 29   If two separate  subscription forms mailed by the copyright owner to 
the book publisher are still not able to be fulfilled within six months, it shall be deemed 
that the stock of the book is exhausted as referred to in  Article 3 2 of the Copyright 
Law.  
    Article 30   Where a copyright owner declare s in accordance with the second 
paragraph of Article 3 3 of the Copyright Law  that no reprinting or ex cerpting of his 
work is permitted , he shall  append such a  declaration to the work when it is published 
in a newspaper or a periodical.  
    Article 31   Where a copyright owner declare s in accordance with the third 
paragraph of Article 40 of the Copyright La w that no making of sound  recordings of 
his work is permitted, he shall  make such a declaration when his work is legally 8 
 recorded.  
    Article 32   To exploit  another person ’s work in accordance with the provisions 
of Article 23, the second paragraph of Art icle 3 3 and the third  paragraph of Article 40 
of the Copyright Law, the exploiter shall pa y remuneration to the copyright owner  
within two months from  the date of exploitation of the said work . 
    Article 33   Performances by foreigners or stateless person s in the territory of 
China shall be protected by the Copyright Law.  
    The rights enjoyed by foreigners or stateless persons in their performances under  
the international treaties to which China has already acceded shall be protected by the 
Copyright Law . 
    Article 34   Sound  recordings produced and distributed by foreigners or stateless 
persons in the territory of China shall be protected by the Copyright Law.  
    The rights enjoyed by foreigners or stateless persons in the sound recordings 
produc ed and distribut ed by them  under the international treaties to which China has 
acceded shall be protected by the Copyright Law.  
    Article 35   The rights enjoyed by foreign radio and television stations in their 
broadcast ing program mes under the international t reaties to which China has acceded 
shall be protected by the Copyright Law.  
    Article 36   Where any act of infringement is committed as enumerated in Article 
48 of the Copyright Law, which also prejudices the social or public interests , and the 
illegal t urnover is not less than 50,000 yuan, the administrative department for 
copyright may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the 
illegal turnover ; if there is no illegal turnover or the illegal turnover is not more than 
50,000  yuan, the administrative department for copyright may impose a fine of not 
more than 250,000 yuan  in light of the seriousness of the circumstances.  
    Article 37  Where  any act of infringement is committed  as enumerated in Article 
48 of the Copyright Law , which also prejudices  the social or public interests,  the 
administrati ve department for copyright of the local people’s government  shall be 
responsible for the investigati on into and dealing with such an act . 
    The administrati ve department for copyrig ht of the State Council may investigate 9 
 into and deal with any act of infringement that is of nationwide effect.  
    Article 38   These Regulations shall be effective  on September 15, 2002. The 
Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of 
China, which were approved by the State Council on May 24, 1991 and promulgated 
by the National Copyright Administration on May 30, 1991, shall be abolished at the 
same time.