Article 1

This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution so as to protect the copyrights of authors of literary, artistic, and scientific works, as well as copyright-related rights and interests, to encourage the creation and dissemination of works that are beneficial to the building of socialist spiritual and material civilizations, and to promote the development and prosperity of socialist cultural and scientific undertakings.

Article 3

"Works" as used in this Law includes literary, artistic, natural, social, engineering, and technological works created in the following forms: (1) written works, (2) oral works, (3) musical, dramatic, operatic, dance, or acrobatic works of art, (4) works of fine arts and architecture, (5) photographic works, (6) cinematographic works and works created by methods similar to filming, (7) engineering design drawings, product design drawings, maps, Graphic works such as schematic drawings and model works, (8) computer software, (9) other works provided for by laws and administrative regulations.

Article 5

This Law does not apply to: (1) laws, regulations, resolutions, decisions, orders and other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature, as well as official translations thereof;

Article 7

The administrative copyright management department of the State Council is in charge of copyright management throughout the country, and the administrative copyright management departments of the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government are in charge of copyright management in their respective administrative regions.

Article 9

Copyright owners include: (1) authors, and (2) other citizens, legal persons, or other organizations that enjoy copyright in accordance with this Law.

Article 11

The copyright belongs to the author, except as otherwise provided by this Law. The citizen who creates the work is the author. A work that is presided over by a legal person or other organization, created on behalf of the will of the legal person or other organization, and for which the legal person or other organization bears responsibility, is regarded as the author. In the absence of proof to the contrary, the citizen, legal person or other organization that signed the work is the author.

Article 13

The copyright of a work created by two or more co-authors shall be jointly enjoyed by the co-authors. Those who do not participate in the creation cannot become co-authors. Where a collaborative work may be used separately, the authors may separately enjoy the copyright for the part of their respective creations, but the copyright of the collaborative work as a whole must not be infringed upon when exercising the copyright.

Article 15

The copyright of cinematographic works and works created by methods similar to that of filmmaking is enjoyed by the producer, but the authors of screenwriters, directors, photographers, lyricists, composers, etc., enjoy the right of authorship and are entitled to remuneration in accordance with the contract signed with the producer. The author of a screenplay, music, or other work that can be used separately in a cinematographic work or a work created by a method similar to that of a film has the right to exercise his or her copyright alone.

Article 17

The ownership of the copyright of the commissioned work shall be agreed upon by the client and the trustee through a contract. If the contract does not expressly stipulate or no contract is concluded, the copyright belongs to the trustee.

Article 19

Where the copyright belongs to a citizen, after the death of the citizen, the rights provided for in subparagraphs (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be transferred in accordance with the provisions of the Inheritance Law during the protection period provided for in this Law. Where copyright belongs to a legal person or other organization, and after the legal person or other organization is changed or terminated, the rights provided for in items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be enjoyed by the legal person or other organization that has inherited its rights and obligations during the period of protection provided for in this Law;

Article 21

The term of protection of the right of publication and the rights provided for in subparagraphs (5) to (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law shall be the life of the author and 50 years after his death, ending on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the death of the author or, in the case of collaborative works, on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the death of the author who died last. The term of protection for the right of publication and the rights provided for in items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 of this Law shall be 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, provided that the work has not been published within 50 years after the completion of the creation, this Law shall no longer protect the works that have not been published within 50 years after the completion of the creation. The term of protection for the right of publication and the rights provided for in subparagraphs (5) to (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law is 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, but where the work has not been published within 50 years after the completion of the creation, this Law shall no longer protect it.

Article 23

Textbooks compiled and published for the purpose of implementing nine-year compulsory education and national education plans may, without the permission of the copyright owner, compile fragments of published works or short literary works, musical works, or single works of art or photography in the textbooks, unless the author has previously stated that they are not allowed to use them, provided that remuneration shall be paid in accordance with provisions, indicating the name of the author and the title of the work, and shall not infringe on other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner in accordance with this Law. The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to restrictions on the rights of publishers, performers, producers of audio and video recordings, radio stations, and television stations.

Article 25

A written contract shall be concluded for the transfer of the rights provided for in subparagraphs (5) to (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law. The contract for the transfer of rights includes the following main contents: (1) the title of the work, (2) the type and geographical scope of the rights transferred, (3) the transfer price, (4) the date and manner of delivery of the transfer price, (5) the liability for breach of contract, and (6) other contents that the parties deem necessary to agree.

Article 27

The rights not expressly permitted or transferred by the copyright owner in the license contract or transfer contract shall not be exercised by the other party without the consent of the copyright owner.

Article 29

Publishers, performers, producers of audio and video recordings, radio stations, television stations, and so forth, must not infringe upon the author's right of authorship, right to modify, right to protect the integrity of the work, and right to receive remuneration in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Law.

Article 31

The exclusive right of publication enjoyed by a book publisher for the work delivered for publication by the copyright owner in accordance with the contract is protected by law, and others may not publish the work.

Article 33

Where a copyright owner submits a manuscript to a newspaper or periodical publisher and does not receive a notice from the newspaper within 15 days from the date of publication of the manuscript, or does not receive a notice from the journal publisher to decide to publish the manuscript within 30 days from the date of issuance of the manuscript, the same work may be submitted to other newspapers or periodicals. Unless otherwise agreed by both parties. After the work is published, other newspapers and periodicals may reprint it or publish it as abstracts or materials, except where the copyright owner states that it must not be reprinted or excerpted, but remuneration shall be paid to the copyright owner in accordance with regulations.

Article 35

Where a work resulting from the publication of an adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement, or compilation of an existing work is published, permission shall be obtained from the copyright owner of the adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement, or compilation of the work and the copyright owner of the original work, and remuneration shall be paid.

Article 36

Publishers have the right to permit or prohibit others from using the layout design of the books and periodicals they publish. The term of protection of the rights provided for in the preceding paragraph is 10 years, ending on December 31 of the 10th year after the first publication of books and periodicals designed in this format.