BEIJING - The
Chinese government has passed a new regulation
which bans the uploading and downloading of
Internet material without the copyright holder's
permission. Under the regulation, effective
beginning July 1, anyone uploading texts, and
performance, sound and video recordings to the
Internet for downloading, copying or other use,
must acquire the permission of the copyright
owners and pay the 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
prohibited under the regulation. The regulation
was drawn up on the principle that it must balance the
interests of copyright owners,
Internet service providers and users of the
copyrighted works, said an official with the Legal
Affairs Office of the State Council.
It
prohibits the intentional evasion or breach of
technical measures to prevent copyright
violations. The production, import and supply of
devices capable of evading or breaching technical
measures of copyright protection and technical
services are also banned.
Violations of
copyright through the Internet usually involve
relatively small sums of money, so the regulation
adopted the international practice of "notice and
delete" to handle disputes, the official said.
Under this practice, copyright owners can send
those breaching copyright a written notice and ask
Internet providers to delete their works or links
to their works, the regulations said. Internet
providers should delete the content and links upon
receiving the written notice from the copyright
holders.
The new regulation provides for a
fine up to 100,000 yuan (US$12,468) and
confiscation of computer equipment for those who
breach copyright.
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 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.
