BEIJING: The Supreme People’s Court has revised its judicial interpretation of the Copyright Law to further unify standards and tighten rules on digital reprinting, aiming to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders in the digital age.
The SPC, the country’s top court, released the updated interpretation on Thursday. It will take effect on Sept 1 as part of efforts to accurately implement the Civil Code and the Copyright Law.
The revised interpretation is aimed at stringently cracking down on copyright infringements and encouraging innovation, thereby creating a robust legal environment to foster cultural and scientific prosperity and support high-quality economic and social development, the SPC said.
Acknowledging the transition of traditional industries such as newspapers and magazines from print to digital media, the revised interpretation extends copyright protection to digital versions of their publications. The move is designed to meet the demands arising from the development of the internet and digital technologies, the SPC said.
In line with the revised interpretation, “reprinting” refers to publishing works from other platforms in print newspapers or journals, as well as in their digital versions when the content and layout remain consistent.
If a reprint fails to credit the original author and source, the party responsible will incur civil liabilities, including the obligation to eliminate negative impacts and issue an apology.
The amendment also specifies that reprinting published works, whether between print media and online information providers or among internet platforms, must be carried out with the copyright holder’s consent and for a fee.
Wang Zhenkun, a partner at Shanghai YaoWang (Beijing) Law Offices, emphasized the urgency and importance of the amendment, saying the rapid development of network and digital technologies has presented numerous new challenges to legal practice involving copyright.
“Areas such as publication forms, the boundaries of fair use and the scope of statutory licensing for newspaper and periodical reprinting urgently require clarification and regulation,” he said.
“The amendment is intended to address emerging issues in the copyright sector, ensuring the correct implementation of the Copyright Law in this digital age, providing clearer litigation guidance for parties involved and offering better intellectual property protection,” he added.
Wang said the revision will help unify judicial standards and resolve discrepancies in rulings on cases involving digital reprinting by newspapers and periodicals, as well as web scraping infringement.
“By clearly defining the boundaries of conduct for online platforms and media, the new legal document will also reduce industry chaos such as uncompensated content scraping and compliance arbitrage, making efforts to build a solid judicial foundation for the high-quality development of the digital cultural industry,” he added. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
