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By Dang Zhe and Jiang Zhipei King & Wood Mallesons’IP Litigation Group

This spring has witnessed several important moves in copyright law related legislation in China. On March 31, the National Copyright Administration issued the draft of the PRC Copyright Law (Revised Draft) (the “Draft”)to gauge public opinion. Indeed the articles on copyright liability for ISPs caused heated discussion. On April 22, the Supreme People’s Court, in a similar attempt to gauge public opinion, issued the exposure draft of the Regulation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law Involving Civil Disputes over Cases of Information Network Dissemination Right Infringement (Exposure Draft) (the “Exposure Draft”), which contains more comprehensive and specific provisions on the copyright infringement liability of Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). Although these two documents are not in force yet, they can be assessed to better understand the legislative and judicial intent of the national copyright administration and the highest judicial organ on the copyright related legal liability for ISPs.
Continue Reading New Trends in Legislation on the Adjudication for Copyright Related Legal Liability for Internet Service Providers

作者：党喆 蒋志培 金杜律师事务所知识产权诉讼组

最近，中国对著作权法的修改引起广泛关注。2012年3月31日，由国家版权局起草的《中华人民共和国著作权法（修改草案）》（“草案”）公开向社会征求意见，其中如网络服务商的著作权责任等诸多条款引发各界热议。最高人民法院4月22日公布了《最高人民法院关于审理侵犯信息网络传播权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定(征求意见稿)》（“征求意见稿”），该稿更是全面、具体涉及了网络服务商等的著作权责任，也公开向社会征求意见。这两份文件虽然都不是正式生效的法律文件，但从立法和司法的角度讲，我们都可以从中理解和体会国家版权行政机关和最高审判机关对网络服务提供者著作权法律责任的立法和司法意图，这对今后网络服务商著作权法律责任适用和判定趋势影响重大，值得仔细研读。

 一、 对著作权法草案第六十九条的解读

草案诞生于中国著作权法第三次修改之际，是一次主动修法（前两次修改系出于履行对世贸组织的承诺或者执行世贸组织争端解决机构的裁定），也是修改幅度最大的一次。
Continue Reading 网络服务提供者著作权法律责任判定最新立法趋势

By Jiao Hongbin  King & Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property Group

On March 31, 2012, the National Copyright Administration of the PRC (NCAC) released the Draft Amendments to the Copyright Law of thePRC (the “Copyright Law”) (the “Draft Amendments”) and the Brief Explanations on the Draft Amendments (“Brief Explanations”)[i] for soliciting public opinions. Unlike the two previous revisions, the Draft Amendments proposed by China on its own initiative are home-grown. 

The prevailing Copyright Law was adopted by the 7th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on September 7, 1990 and became effective on June 1, 1991. Two revisions in 2001 and 2010 were undertaken in light of China’s involvement with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The first revision was made for China’s entry into the WTO, where modifications and complements were made to coordinate the inconsistencies between the Copyright Law and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); two articles were revised in 2010 with an aim to enforce a WTO panel ruling on the dispute over intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) between China and the United States.Continue Reading Key Disputable Issues regarding the Draft Amendments to China Copyright Law

作者：矫鸿彬  金杜律师事务所知识产权组

2012年3月31日，中华人民共和国国家版权局公开《中华人民共和国著作权法》（“《著作权法》”）（修改草案）文本和关于草案的简要说明[i]，向社会公开征求意见，此次修订被视为是中国对《著作权法》的首次主动修改。

现行的《著作权法》是1990年9月7日由第七届全国人大常委会审议通过并于1991年6月1日起施行，曾于2001年和2010年进行过两次修订，均与世界贸易组织有关。2001年进行的第一次修订是为了满足中国加入世界贸易组织的需要，对《著作权法》与世界贸易组织《与贸易有关的知识产权协议》不一致的地方进行了修改或补充；2010年进行的第二次修订是为了执行世界贸易组织关于中美知识产权争端案的裁决，对著作权法进行的只涉及两个条文的小修改。 Continue Reading 《中华人民共和国著作权法》第三次修改草案的主要争议问题

By Sun Mingfei King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group, Guangzhou Office

As Chinese courts rarely accept copyright disputes concerning computer user interfaces, the case of Shenzhen TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd vs. Shenzhen Tenda Technology Co., Ltd and Zhang Yabo (the "TP-LINK Case") represents a significant precedent in dealing with similar cases. It is highly controversial even for copyright or computer experts to answer questions such as whether computer user interfaces are under the protection of China’s Copyright Law or how to judge originality of a work in the case.Continue Reading Landmark Copyright Case on Computer User Interfaces

作者：孙明飞 金杜律师事务所争议解决组，广州办公室

中国法院极少受理计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷案件，深圳市普联技术有限公司诉深圳市吉祥腾达科技有限公司、张亚波侵犯计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷上诉案，对于同类案件的处理有着重要的参考价值。计算机用户操作界面是否属著作权法中所称的作品，如何界定作品的独创性？这些问题在司法实践中属于新生事物，几乎没有太多经验可以借鉴，研究版权的专家学者甚至计算机领域的专家对此也分歧很大。Continue Reading 侵犯计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷案评析