Advanced Television

China in online copyright clampdown

July 26, 2017

By Colin Mann

China’s latest national campaign to protect intellectual property rights will focus on online movies, TV shows and news articles, according to senior management at the National Copyright Administration.

“To protect the copyright of movies, TV series and news stories online, the battle will severely strike websites and other platforms, such as cloud storage and social media platforms, that spread unauthorised works,” said Yu Cike, director of copyright management for the National Copyright Administration. “It will also target websites, mobile apps and WeChat accounts that publish, repost and spread news articles without authorisation.”

The campaign will also target app stores and app providers that spread works without authorisation. E-commerce platforms will be strictly supervised, banning pirated books, video works and electronic publications online.

The annual campaign – Sword at the Internet – began in 2005 and aims to tackle online copyright infringement and targets music, movies, literature, games, e-commerce and software. It is expected to last four months.

Categories: Articles, Policy, Regulation