Copyright in China

Copyright in China: how protection arises

Copyright in China is governed by the Copyright Law, last amended with effect from 1 June 2021, together with the Implementing Regulations, the Regulations on Computer Software Protection and the Regulations on the Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Networks. Protection arises automatically when an original work is created; no registration or notice is required. Works by foreign authors are protected under the Berne Convention, which China joined in 1992, and other treaties.

The 2021 amendments made several important changes. The definition of work became open-ended, covering intellectual achievements in literature, art and science that are original and can be expressed in a certain form. Cinematographic works were broadened into audiovisual works. Statutory damages were raised to a range of RMB 500 to RMB 5 million, punitive damages of one to five times were introduced for wilful and serious infringement, and courts were empowered to order infringers to produce accounts. Protection for technological measures and rights management information was strengthened.

Moral rights of attribution, alteration and integrity are perpetual and cannot be assigned, although they can in practice be managed through contractual consents. In July 2026 the National Copyright Administration published draft revised Copyright Implementing Regulations for public comment, expanding them from 38 to 49 articles. The draft would presume that a person named as author, performer or producer is the rights holder, treat registration certificates as rebuttable prima facie evidence, clarify rights in joint and commissioned works and set out a framework for technological protection measures. It does not address AI-generated works. The consultation closed in August 2026 and the text is not final.

Exceptions and limitations

There is no open-ended fair use doctrine. The Copyright Law lists specific situations in which works may be used without permission or payment, provided the author's name and the title of the work are indicated and the use does not affect normal exploitation or unreasonably prejudice the owner. They include personal study and research, appropriate quotation for introduction, commentary or explanation, news reporting, limited copying for classroom teaching or scientific research, certain uses by libraries and museums, free public performances, and accessible formats for people with print disabilities.

The 2021 amendments added a catch-all for other situations provided by laws and administrative regulations. Courts interpret these exceptions narrowly, and commercial uses rarely qualify. Businesses relying on an exception for copyright in China, for example in news aggregation, commentary videos or AI training, should treat it as a litigation risk and seek PRC legal advice.

Ownership: employees, contractors and software

Ownership rules for copyright in China often surprise foreign companies used to common law work-for-hire concepts. For ordinary employee works, copyright belongs to the employee-author, while the employer has a priority right to use it within its business, and for two years after completion the author may not, without the employer's consent, license a third party to use it in the same way.

For special employee works, mainly created using the employer's materials and technical resources with the employer responsible for them (such as engineering designs, product designs, maps and software), or where laws, regulations or contracts so provide, economic rights belong to the employer and the author keeps attribution. Software developed by an employee for job duties belongs to the employer under the software regulations.

Commissioned works belong to the commissioned party unless the contract provides otherwise. Agencies, freelancers and outsourcing partners therefore own what they create unless there is a written assignment. Joint development with Chinese partners should specify ownership, exploitation and licensing rights expressly, because default rules allow co-owners to exploit and license jointly owned works in ways the other party may not expect.

A practical ownership checklist:

• employment contracts and IP policies that allocate ownership of all work product and confirm consents in relation to moral rights;
• written assignments, not just licences, from agencies, freelancers and outsourcing vendors;
• clear open-source policies, with records of components and licences used in software;
• chain-of-title documents for acquired content, including underlying scripts, music and images;
• registration of key software and content with the Copyright Protection Center of China to create prima facie evidence before disputes arise.

Software copyright in practice

Software is the category of copyright in China that companies register most often. Registration requires submitting identifying portions of the source code and documentation, and the certificate is commonly requested in financings, IPO reviews, government tenders and high-technology enterprise applications. Registration does not examine originality, so it does not settle disputes about who wrote the code, but it creates a dated record that is useful evidence. Where code is sensitive, applicants can use the options available for limiting the portion deposited. Companies should also keep version-control records, which courts increasingly accept as evidence of authorship and creation dates.

Online copyright and platforms

Most copyright disputes in China now involve online content: video, music, literature, games, images, software and, increasingly, short-form drama and live-streams. Platforms benefit from safe harbour protection if they act promptly on valid notices and do not know or have reason to know of infringement. Courts look closely at whether a platform recommended, edited or profited directly from infringing content, which may remove the safe harbour.

The internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou handle a large share of online copyright disputes, with electronic filing, online hearings and acceptance of blockchain and timestamped evidence where its reliability is shown. Administrative enforcement is also active: the National Copyright Administration and other agencies run annual campaigns against online piracy, often targeting particular sectors such as sports broadcasts, film releases or online literature.

Live-streaming, sports and short video

Live-streaming and short video have produced much of the recent case law on copyright in China. Courts have treated many sports event broadcasts as audiovisual works since the 2021 amendments, making unauthorised streams easier to pursue under copyright rather than unfair competition. Game live-streaming raises questions about the rights of game publishers in on-screen content, and short video platforms face claims for clips of films and television series uploaded by users. Rights holders typically combine bulk notices to platforms with test cases against the most commercial infringers, while platforms invest in content recognition systems to preserve safe harbour protection.

The revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law, in force since 15 October 2025, supplements copyright for content businesses, expressly addressing data scraping and misuse of platform rules. Where content does not qualify as a work, or rights are uncertain, unfair competition claims can provide an alternative cause of action.

AI-generated content and copyright in China

No statute addresses AI-generated works, but case law on copyright in China is developing quickly. In November 2023 the Beijing Internet Court held that an image generated with a diffusion model was a protected work because the user's choice and refinement of prompts and parameters reflected original intellectual input. Other local courts have since followed a similar approach, while some have refused protection where claimants could not show the creative process behind the output. The consistent theme is that protection depends on demonstrable human creative contribution, not on the tool used.

On the output side, the Guangzhou Internet Court held in February 2024 that a generative AI service provider infringed reproduction and adaptation rights when its platform produced images substantially similar to a well-known character, ordering filtering measures and modest damages. Since 1 September 2025, CAC measures require explicit and implicit labelling of AI-generated synthetic content, which affects how AI outputs are presented and may become relevant evidence in disputes.

For companies using AI in content production, practical steps include keeping records of prompts, iterations and human editing; reviewing AI service terms on ownership of outputs; screening outputs for similarity to known works; and labelling content as required. Questions about training data, including whether use of copyright works for training is permitted, remain unsettled. Our page on AI disputes and case law tracks the leading decisions.

Enforcing copyright in China

Rights holders can choose among platform notices, administrative complaints to copyright authorities, civil litigation and, for serious piracy, criminal referrals. Civil courts can grant injunctions, including pre-action conduct preservation orders, and award damages based on actual loss, the infringer's profits or reference to licence fees, statutory damages of RMB 500 to RMB 5 million where these cannot be determined, and punitive damages of one to five times in wilful and serious cases. Reasonable costs of stopping infringement, including legal fees, can also be recovered.

A typical enforcement plan for copyright in China follows these steps, adjusted to the type of work and the infringer:

1. Confirm ownership and chain of title, and obtain a registration certificate for key works if time allows.
2. Preserve evidence through notarisation, timestamping or blockchain evidence services accepted by courts.
3. Send platform notices to remove content quickly and identify the uploader.
4. Assess scale and damages, including the infringer's revenue and licence fees in the market.
5. File administrative complaints or civil actions with PRC counsel, seeking preservation orders where urgent.
6. Refer large-scale commercial piracy to public security authorities where criminal thresholds may be met.

Criminal and administrative liability

The Criminal Law, as amended with effect from 2021, criminalises copyright infringement for profit where the illegal gains are relatively large or other serious circumstances exist, including reproducing and distributing works, communicating them over networks and circumventing technological protection measures. Penalties include imprisonment and fines. Administrative authorities can also confiscate illegal gains and impose fines where infringement harms the public interest. These routes are most relevant to organised piracy of film, software and publications, and they do not compensate rights holders directly, so they are often paired with civil claims.

Licensing and cross-border content deals

Copyright licences and assignments in China should be in writing and specify the rights licensed, territory, term, exclusivity, media and fees. Rights not expressly granted remain with the owner. Recordal of copyright contracts is voluntary but useful evidence, especially for exclusive licences and assignments of software.

Cross-border content deals involve regulatory layers beyond copyright. Importing films, television programmes, online audiovisual content, publications and games is subject to content review and licensing by sector regulators such as the National Radio and Television Administration and the publishing authorities, and foreign investment restrictions apply to many media activities. A valid copyright licence does not by itself allow distribution. Royalties paid abroad raise withholding tax and foreign exchange documentation questions.

For Chinese content companies going abroad, the priorities are reversed: securing worldwide rights from writers, performers and music owners, clearing titles and characters in target markets, and preparing for enforcement on international platforms. Short-form drama and games publishers in particular need chain-of-title documentation strong enough for overseas platforms and distributors, as discussed in our page on short drama and creative content IP.

A worked example illustrates the issues. A Chinese studio produces a micro-drama series adapted from an online novel and wants to distribute it on international platforms. It needs a written adaptation licence from the novel's rights holder that covers overseas audiovisual exploitation and dubbing, assignments from scriptwriters and freelance editors, releases from performers, and licences for music, fonts and stock footage. If AI tools were used in scripting or visuals, it needs records of human creative input and compliance with labelling rules. Overseas platforms will ask for this chain of title before accepting the content, and gaps discovered late can delay launches by months.

Common mistakes

• Treating copyright in China as identical to home rules. Ownership defaults, exceptions and evidence practice differ, so global templates need local review.
• Assuming work-for-hire. Without a written assignment, freelancers and agencies usually own what they create.
• Relying on foreign-law contracts alone. Assignments and licences should be effective under Chinese law where the rights will be enforced in China.
• Poor evidence. Screenshots without notarisation or reliable timestamping are frequently challenged.
• Ignoring content approvals. A licence does not replace regulatory permits for distribution.
• Undocumented AI workflows. Without records of human creative input, ownership of AI-assisted works is hard to prove.
• Uncontrolled open-source use. Copyleft licences can affect proprietary code and complicate due diligence in financings.

How TRW & Co helps

Our Shenzhen representative office advises media, technology, gaming and consumer companies on copyright from a cross-border perspective. We structure ownership and licensing arrangements, negotiate content, software and distribution agreements under international and non-PRC laws, review chain of title for financings and acquisitions, and coordinate enforcement programmes across mainland China, Hong Kong and overseas markets. Where registrations, administrative complaints, court proceedings or PRC legal opinions are required, we work with licensed PRC law firms and coordinate the overall programme. See our intellectual property overview and IP licensing and commercialisation guide, or contact us.