SPC Issues Opinions to Strengthened Copyright Protection

On August 5th, the Supreme People’s Court released Opinions on Strengthening Protection of Copyright and Copyright-related Rights (Draft for Comment) and asked for comments from the public. It was raised in the Opinions that rights protection should be strengthened in new areas to adapt to the technological development of high-tech fields, such as the Internet, Artificial Intelligence and big data, respond actively to the new needs of judicial protection and appropriately handle the relationship between the relative closure of copyright subjects and relative openness of rights.

It was clarified in the Opinion to appropriately handle new types of cases related to live streaming of sports events and online games in accordance with the law to promote the standardized development of emerging business formats.

Key requirements for strengthening copyright protection in cyberspace are set in the Opinions. It was pointed out in the Opinions that if right holders think their rights are infringed and file an application for preservation to require the Internet service provider to take measures of deleting, blocking or disconnecting the links, the people’s courts shall review and decide in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, the Opinion clarifies that if Internet service providers fail to take necessary measures in a timely manner after receiving the notice from right holders, they should bear joint liability for part of the enlarged damage.

The Opinions make it clear that presumption rules should be fully applied in copyright-related cases to reduce the burden of right holders in litigation. It is indicated in the Opinions that after the right holders completed the initial burden of proof, the people’s court should presume that the copyright or copyright-related rights claimed by the parties exist in related works, performance, and sound recordings if the other party doesn’t raise objections or has no evidence.

The Opinions also point out that the exercise of copyright and copyright-related rights does not presuppose the prior registration of rights. Natural persons, legal persons and unincorporated organizations whose names are on works, performances and sound recordings are presumed to be the right holders of related copyright or copyright-related rights, unless evidence proves to be the contrary.

In terms of the identification of signatures, the SPC indicates that comprehensive judgement should be made based on factors, such as the nature, type, and expression of works, performance and sound recordings, as well as industry habits and public perception habits.

In terms of evidence, the Opinions also demands to improve the rules of evidence for IPR litigation, support relevant parties to save, fix and submit evidence through blockchain, and time stamping and effectively solve the problem of difficulty for IPR holders in providing evidence.

It was indicated in the Opinions that temporary measures, such as behavior preservation, evidence preservation and property preservation will apply to copyright-related cases. Multiple civil liability methods will be comprehensively applied, so that IPR holders can receive more comprehensive and adequate right relief in civil cases.

The Opinions make it clear that dishonest litigation will be under crackdown. People’s court at all levels will improve the punishment and accountability mechanisms for breach of trust. The people’s court can take compulsory measures in accordance with the law, such as admonitions, fines and detentions towards dishonest litigation, such as filing forged or altered evidence, concealing or destroying evidence, making false statements, making false testimony and making fake identification.

Source: The Paper