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China has a strong system in place for ensuring the protection of copyrighted material, often resulting in almost immediate action. The Chinese copyright takedown policies are designed to protect the right of “communication through an information network.” This focuses on a right to make sound and audiovisual recordings available to the public over the Internet.
In China the ability to make recordings available to the public using the Internet requires permission of the ‘right owner’ – who is entitled to compensation whenever this right is exercised. But, when the right owner believes their copyright is being infringed there is a quick and effective way to remedy this.
The right owner must give written notice to the network service provider requesting removal of the recording. The service provider must then immediately remove the recording or disconnect the link to the recording. The written notice provided by the right owner needs to demonstrate a belief that there is an infringement of copyright protection and include details and proof of this infringement.
After the service provider has removed the recording or link, they will forward the notice from the right owner to the service recipient – the individual that posted the material and made it available to the public. If the recipient disagrees with the right owner and believes there has been no infringement, it can provide an explanation in writing to the service provider to request restoration of the material.
If the service provider receives this kind of statement from the recipient, the material must be immediately replaced or the link fixed. This statement will then be forwarded to the right owner.
The right owner cannot then request the material be removed again, otherwise the back and forth may never end. Instead, the right owner is left with two choices. They can decide to walk away and leave everything as it then stands, or they can initiate an infringement proceeding against the alleged copyright infringer.
If the service provider does not follow these procedures, they can be forced to stop the infringement, issue an apology, eliminate the ‘bad effects,’ or compensate the right owner for any losses resulting from the infringement. The more serious the copyright infringement is, the more serious the consequences will be, including possible confiscation of computers and other equipment that was used to provide the infringing material.
Now, should the right owner be in the wrong, they can also be held liable. Liability can include the payment of damages if wrongful removal or material results in a loss incurred by the service recipient.
Despite the possible back and forth and use of the service provider as the middleman, the Chinese system can provide almost immediate results. But fact-checking becomes critical –the right owner or the service recipient must make sure that the written explanation they give to their service provider is one hundred percent accurate. Otherwise, the ramifications they face as a result of not knowing all the details could be incredibly extensive.
For more information about Chinese copyright law and what happens during a takedown or removal of content from the Internet, contact Revision Legal’s Internet or Copyright attorneys through the form on this page or by calling 855-473-8474.
China’s copyright takedown framework is grounded in the Regulations on Protection of the Right to Network Dissemination of Information (网络传播权保护条例), promulgated in 2006 and amended in 2013. These regulations implement Article 10(12) of China’s Copyright Law, which protects the “right of dissemination through information networks”—broadly equivalent to what U.S. copyright law calls the right of public performance and distribution in digital contexts. The regulations create a notice-and-takedown structure similar to the DMCA’s safe harbor framework under 17 U.S.C. § 512, but with meaningful differences in how quickly service providers must act.
Under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), a service provider that promptly removes infringing content upon receiving a qualifying takedown notice is shielded from monetary liability. The DMCA requires the notice to include specific information—identification of the copyrighted work, identification of the infringing material, and a statement of good faith belief—but does not specify an exact deadline for removal. Courts have found that a delay of several days to two weeks may still qualify as “expeditious.”
China’s framework is more aggressive. The regulations require “immediate” removal after a valid notice is received, and Chinese courts have interpreted this requirement strictly. Service providers that delay face joint and several liability with the infringer for any damages caused by the delay. This immediacy requirement, combined with the forward notice obligation to the content poster, creates a faster-moving process than most rights holders experience under the DMCA.
China’s regulations provide a counter-notice mechanism analogous to the DMCA’s § 512(g). If the content poster believes their material does not infringe, they may submit a written statement to the service provider explaining why the content is lawful. Upon receiving a valid counter-notice, the service provider must immediately restore the content. Critically—unlike the DMCA, which gives the original complainant 10 business days to file a lawsuit before content must be restored—China’s framework does not provide a waiting period. Restoration is immediate, and the rights holder’s only recourse at that point is to initiate an infringement proceeding.
Service providers that fail to follow the notice-and-takedown procedures face administrative sanctions from the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), including fines, confiscation of illegal proceeds, and—in serious cases—confiscation of equipment used to facilitate infringement. Courts may also award civil damages to rights holders who suffer losses as a result of a service provider’s failure to act. China’s Copyright Law provides for both compensatory damages and—for serious infringement—statutory damages of up to RMB 500,000 (approximately $70,000 USD).
For U.S. copyright owners seeking to enforce rights against infringing content hosted on Chinese platforms, the most important practical steps are:
If you have copyrighted works being infringed on Chinese platforms, or if you need help navigating cross-border copyright enforcement, contact Revision Legal at 855-473-8474 or complete the contact form on this page.
Cross-border copyright enforcement is one of the more complex areas of intellectual property law because copyright rights are territorial—each country’s law independently governs what rights exist and how they are enforced within that country’s borders. For rights holders with significant content libraries distributed in China, establishing a local enforcement relationship with a Chinese intellectual property attorney is advisable. Proactive registration of copyright with the National Copyright Administration of China, while not required for protection, simplifies the evidentiary burden in Chinese court proceedings. Contact Revision Legal at 855-473-8474 for referrals to international IP counsel with whom we work regularly.
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