This article was first published on the starting point girls' network, please support genuine reading.

Chapter I: General Provisions

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 2

The works of Chinese citizens, legal persons or other organizations, regardless of whether they are published or not, enjoy copyright in accordance with this Law. The copyrights enjoyed by foreigners and stateless persons in accordance with the agreements signed between the country of their authors or the country of habitual residence and China or the international treaties to which they are parties are protected by this Law. Where the works of foreigners or stateless persons are first published within the territory of China, they enjoy copyright in accordance with this Law. Authors of countries that have not signed an agreement with China or who are jointly parties to international treaties, as well as works of stateless persons, are published for the first time in a member state of an international treaty to which China is a party, or where they are published simultaneously in a member state and a non-member state at the same time, are protected by this Law.

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 4

The exercise of copyright by a copyright owner must not violate the Constitution and laws, and must not harm the public interest. The state is to supervise and manage the publication and dissemination of works in accordance with law.

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 6

Measures for the protection of copyright in folklore and artistic works shall be separately formulated by the State Council.

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 8

Copyright holders and copyright-related rights holders may authorize copyright collective management organizations to exercise copyright or copyright-related rights. After being authorized, a collective copyright management organization may assert rights in its own name for copyright holders and copyright-related rights holders, and may act as a party to litigation or arbitration activities involving copyright or copyright-related rights. Copyright collective management organizations are non-profit organizations, and the State Council shall separately stipulate the methods of establishment, rights and obligations, the collection and distribution of copyright licensing fees, and the supervision and management of copyright royalties.

Chapter II: Copyright

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 10

Copyright includes the following personal rights and property rights: (1) the right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether the work is made public; (2) the right of authorship, that is, the right to indicate the identity of the author and sign the work; (3) the right of modification, that is, the right to modify or authorize others to modify the work; (4) the right to protect the integrity of the work, that is, the right to protect the work from distortion and tampering; (5) the right of reproduction, that is, the right to print, copy, rubbing, audio recording, video recording, reproduction, (6) the right of distribution, that is, the right to make the original or reproduction of the work available to the public by way of sale or gift; (7) the right of rent, that is, the right to permit others to temporarily use the film work and the works created by methods similar to the production of films, and computer software, except where the computer software is not the main object of rental; (8) the right of exhibition, that is, the right to publicly display works of art, (9) the right of performance, i.e., the right to perform a work in public, and the right to publicly broadcast the performance of the work by various means; (10) the right of projection, i.e., the public reproduction of fine arts, photography, (11) the right of broadcasting, i.e., the public broadcasting or dissemination of works by wireless means, the communication of broadcast works to the public by means of cable transmission or retransmission, and the transmission of symbols, sounds, (12) the right of information network dissemination, i.e., the right to make the work available to the public by wire or wireless means, so that the public can obtain the work at a time and place of their own choosing, (xiii) the right of filming, i.e., the right to fix the work on the medium by means of filming or by means similar to filming, (xiv) the right of adaptation, i.e., the right to change the work and create a new work of originality, (xv) the right of translation, i.e., the right to convert a work from one language to another, and (xvi) the right of compilation, i.e., the right of selection or arrangement of a work or a fragment of a work(17) other rights that shall be enjoyed by the copyright owner. Copyright owners may permit others to exercise the rights provided for in items (5) through (17) of the preceding paragraph, and receive remuneration in accordance with the agreement or the relevant provisions of this Law. Copyright owners may transfer in whole or in part the rights provided for in items (5) through (17) of the first paragraph of this Article, and receive remuneration in accordance with the agreement or the relevant provisions of 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 12

The copyright of a work produced by adapting, translating, annotating, or arranging an existing work shall be enjoyed by the person who adapted, translated, annotated, or arranged, provided that the copyright of the original work shall not be infringed when exercising copyright.

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 14

A compilation of several works, fragments of works, or data or other materials that do not constitute a work, and a work in which the selection or arrangement of its content reflects originality, is a compilation work, and the copyright of the compiler is enjoyed by the compiler, but the copyright of the original work shall not be infringed 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 16

Works created by citizens for the purpose of completing the work tasks of legal persons or other organizations are service works, and except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this article, the copyright is enjoyed by the author, but the legal person or other organization has the right to use it preferentially within the scope of its business. Within two years of the completion of the work, without the consent of the unit, the author shall not permit a third party to use the work in the same way as the unit. In any of the following circumstances, the author enjoys the right of authorship, and other rights to copyright are enjoyed by the legal person or other organization, and the legal person or other organization may give the author a reward: (1) service works such as engineering design drawings, product design drawings, maps, computer software, etc., which are mainly created using the material and technical conditions of the legal person or other organization, and for which the legal person or other organization bears responsibility;