The General Administration of Press and Publication released the Notice Regarding Request for Comments on Second Draft Revisions to the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China (??«????????? ??»(???????)?????????, the “Second Draft”) for public comment on July 6, 2012. The Second Draft covered a variety of topics, but one in particular inspired heated debate: a proposal to give certain creators a “right of secondary remuneration” (“?????”). Since the release of the Second Draft last year, a putative third draft was circulated with further revisions, and this discussion will summarize where we are today with this proposed right, why production companies have been opposed to it, and what the outlook is going forward.

THE PROPOSAL -

The Copyright Law of 1990 was amended twice, first in 2001 upon China’s accession to the WTO and again in 2010. A third amendment was proposed by the State Council in 2012, and two drafts of that amendment were released to the public for comment. The Second Draft added a so-called “right of secondary remuneration”, which has been controversial.