China Copyright Application service
Hotline: 86-755-82147392, Email:info@citilinkia.com
The Chinese Copyright Law was promulgated in 1990 and became effective on June 1, 1991. Since China joined Berne Convention in October 1992, when a work is completed in one of the member state of the Berne Convention, it enjoys copyright protection in China automatically. However, to a work finished in a non-member state, to enjoy copyright protection, the work should be first published in a member state of Berne Convention. The protection term of Chinese copyright to an individual author is the whole life and the 50 years after death, if the author is an entity, it is 50 years from the first publication of the work.
In accordance with the Chinese law and practice, it is not compulsory to register copyright of a work, however, registration is suggested in order to handle copyright disputes more conveniently, this is because the registration certificate can be regarded as a prima facie evidence of ownership.
To obtain a copyright registration in China, a foreign applicant must entrust a Chinese agency to file an application with the Chinese Copyright Office. The Chinese Copyright Office has its branch offices in each province or municipality, like the Shanghai Copyright Office, to handle the application and issue the registration certificate which is valid nationwide in China.
(I) Necessary Informaiton and Requirements
1. Name(s), address(es), zip code, nationality(ies) of the copyright owner(s), name and telephone number of the person to contact; evidence(s) showing the identification of the copyright owner(s), i.e.,
1) For individual owner (including the heir of copyright), notarized copy of identification card.
2) For entity as owner, notarized copy of business license, etc.
2. Name(s), address(es), zip cope, nationality(ies), birthday(s), date(s) of death (if deceased), number(s) of the identification card(s) of the author(s); name and telephone number of the person to contact.
3. Power of Attorney, which shall be signed and dated by the copyright owner(s); if there are more than one owners, the Power of Attorney may be signed either by all owners, or by one owner representing all the other owners together with an authorization to said owner by all the other owners.
4. A brief description of the work to be registered.
5. Data relating to the work.
1) The title, type and date of completion of the work.
2) Whether or not the work has ever been published, if yes, date and place of its first publication; title, issue/volume and page numbers of series/collection/journal/ magazine in which the work was once published and date of the publication;
3) If in deductive form, the title and registration number (if any) of the original work, type of the deductive form, such as the recomposed, the translated, the compiled, the rearranged and the annotated, etc.;
6. If the copyright of the work has been licensed to a third party, then,
1) Notarized copy of the license contract;
2) Name, address (including post code) of the licensee;
3) Information on the method and duration of the license;
4) Name and telephone number of the person to contact to (if any).
7. Notarized copy of commissioning contract for a commissioned work.
8. Notarized copy of assignment from the original owner to the current copyright owner(s) if the copyright has been assigned.
Contact Us
For further queries, please do not hesitate to contact ATAHK at anytime, anywhere by simply calling China hotline at 86-755-82148419, 86-755-82143512, or emailing to info@citilinkia.com