China making strides in IPR protection

The upcoming Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances serves as recognition for China's progress in copyright protection from the international community, a top official said on Monday.

It also shows the resolution of the Chinese government to constantly improve the environment for intellectual property rights protection, said Liu Binjie, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

The conference will be held in Beijing from Jun 20 to 26.

"That the WIPO has chosen Beijing to host the diplomatic conference is proof of China's achievement in this field. It shows that our law on copyright protection is in line with international practices," Liu said.

The Copyright Law, first introduced in China in 1990, has been amended twice and a draft is under review for the third amendment. It will further adjust the law to the meet existing international regulations, he said.

The diplomatic conference, convened by the World Intellectual Property Organization and Chinese government, is expected to result in a treaty that will strengthen the economic rights of many film actors and other performers and could provide them with extra income.

More than 500 negotiators from 185 WIPO member states, as well as actors, industry and other stakeholder organizations, are expected to come.

"What China is doing and has been doing in many years to improve their copyright and intellectual property environment is tremendous work," Trevor Clarke, assistant director-general of the WIPO, said on Sunday. "Some work China has already done anticipates the treaty that we hope to conclude in the coming days. China is ahead of several countries in copyright protection, and I'm confident of the future value of what they are doing in this area."

Liu, however, stressed that China still faces a lot of challenges in terms of IPR protection such as poor public awareness of IPR, especially in the digital age.

"Chinese people may feel guilty by stealing one yuan from another person's pocket. But they don't feel so guilty when downloading something worth 10 yuan from the Internet illegally," said Liu, who added that pirated software is much more common in China than in developed countries.

Hosting the diplomatic conference will give the Chinese government extra motivation to improve the IPR protection environment, he said.