About China Copyright Law

A General Overview of China Copyright Law
The National People's Congress approved the Amendment to China Copyright Law (the "Amendment") on October 27, 2001, to take effect immediately. The Amendment contains revisions and additional provisions to bring the Law into closer conformity with TRIPs and the Berne Convention. China is a signatory of the WTO, Berne Convention, Copyright Treaty, Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Copyright of any individual or entity of another member country will be protected in China. In China, ownership of the copyright to a work is granted to Chinese nationals upon completion of the work. No registration is required for copyright protection. In order to qualify for copyright protection, foreign copyright owners must meet one of the following requirements:
Their works must first be published in China prior to publication in other jurisdictions.
The author must be a national or a resident of a jurisdiction, which is in accordance with an international treaty or an agreement, of which both countries are the signatories.
Where a foreign work is first published in a member country of a treaty to which China is also a member.