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China mulls amending copyright law

Xinhua, April 25, 2012

• A Chinese copyright official has promised to conduct careful research into amending the country's copyright law, after a draft amendment stirred anger from domestic music authors.

  Yan Xiaohong at the press conference

  
  
  

  The under-fire draft provision concerns a system of copyright statutory licenses, which aims to regulate copyright holders' rights to facilitate the proper spreading of copyrighted works, Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, said at a press conference Tuesday.

  "We take this provision very seriously, and will seek a solution that can best balance various rights and claims," Yan added.

  Chinese composers and song writers are enraged over the draft, which was published last month for public comments, as they believe it will diminish their professional rights if passed.

  Article 46 of the draft stipulates that sound recording producers may use a music work from another recorded product, providing it has already been published for more than three months, in their own records without having to obtain consent from the music copyright holder, as long as they report to relevant government authorities and pay fair compensation.

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