Peer to peer exchanges in the EU on the reform of Copyright Law with the Legislative Affairs Commission (Standing Committee of the NPC)

After a few steps of reforms, Copyright protection and the fight to piracy are still of concern for the creative industry in China.

Following extensive consultations with domestic and international stakeholders, in June 2014 the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council released a third draft of the new law. The draft amendments to the Copyright Law will then be presented to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress for further review and final enactment.

IP Key and the Legislative Affairs Commission at the Standing Committee of the PRC National People’s Congress (LAC) recently partnered in a study visit to Brussels and London on the ongoing reform of the PRC Copyright Law.

With the technical and logistical coordination of IP Key, in Brussels the Chinese delegation had the chance to meet with senior copyright experts of the European Commission (DG TRADE, DG CONNECT) and the EU Parliament (Commission for International Trade and Legal Affairs), engaging in exchanges over various copyright policy issues, including measures to compensate rights’ owners under the current limitation-exception system, EU Directive 2014/26, online copyright enforcement and resale rights, among others.

Brussels was also the occasion for entering into talks with representatives of EU Collective Managements Organizations (CMO) and University, in order to draw useful conclusions for the envisioned reform of the Chinese CMO system: a half-day roundtable with experts from SABAM, GESAC and CEIPI was therefore organised for the purpose of discussing collective rights’  management practices, multi territorial licensing as well as for hearing views and opinions on the expected impact of the recent EU Directive 2014/26 in EU Member States.

The study visits continued in London, where the LAC delegation had productive exchanges with representatives of the music industry (IFPI, Universal Music, Abbey Road Studios, PPL), particularly focusing on the importance of ensuring protection to broadcasting and public performance rights in the new Copyright Law of the PRC, for a healthy growth of the EU-China trade in the music industry.

Finally, on the last day, King’s College London hosted a seminar and roundtable with senior British academics, lawyers and government officials, providing a venue for presenting some of the provisions recently adopted by the reformed Copyright Law of the UK, with particular reference to certain limitations and exceptions (data mining, parody, quotations, private copying).

IP Key is therefore grateful to the LAC for these valuable exchanges and look forward to continuing the cooperation in 2016.

For more information on this activity contact Davide Follador davide.follador@ipkey.org, for general information on IP Key please contact jaspal.channa@ipkey.org.

Here you can find the Regulation for the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China ( 2013 Revision).”