China's top 10 copyright events in 2016

Since 2009, the National Copyright Administration of China has drawn up an annual list of the 10 most important events and facts that influence the nation's copyright business. The most recent 2016 list includes:

Jianwang Operation 2016

Launched in July 2016 by many government departments, the operation targeted online copyright infringement. Enforcement nationwide investigated 514 administrative cases and shut down 391 illegal websites.

Gdp Contribution

Copyright-related industries generated 4.6 trillion yuan ($667 billion) in output value in 2014, accounting for 7.28 percent of China's GDP, a 0.01 percentage point higher than the previous year, according to a report unveiled in April 2016 by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication.

Judicial Protection

The central government issued guidelines in November to support stronger punishments for intellectual property rights violations. Courts across the nation increased the compensation for infringement of intellectual property rights.

Promotion Of Beijing Treaty

Fifteen countries had approved or joined the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances by the end of 2016. A high-level IP conference held in Beijing in July called for promotion of the treaty, which was concluded in 2012.

Record High Registrations

The number of nationwide copyright registrations surpassed the 2 million benchmark for the first time in 2016, up 22.3 percent from 2015. The number included 400,000 software registrations.

National Top Awards

The National Copyright Administration of China and the World Intellectual Property Organization announced the first WIPO-NCAC Copyright Awards in December 2016. The biennial award is the only international award and the highest accolade in the copyright sector in China.

Dehua Experience

The National Copyright Administration of China held an exhibition in November 2016 in Geneva to introduce how the copyright of the Dehua ceramics in Fujian province is well protected. WIPO chose the county as an example to study the impact of copyright on a primary regional industry in 2010.

Independent Associations

Five copyright associations are no longer part of the government agency, according to a national pilot plan in June 2016. They aim to serve the right owners in a more professional way.

Self-Discipline Of Companies

A number of leading internet service providers, including Baidu and Qihoo 360, initiated the removal of pirated content from their platforms.

Research Base

The National Copyright Administration of China approved domestic IT giant Tencent establishing China's first research center for the online copyright industry in October 2016. The center's research subjects include international online copyright business trends and strategies.

(China Daily 03/24/2017 page17)