Series of High-Level Roundtables 2021 – Second Session for Collective Management Organizations

January 20, 2021

On January 15, 2021, the WIPO Office in China (WOC) held the second session of its series of High-Level Roundtables 2021 in Beijing. Representatives from the Music Copyright Society of China, China Audio-Video Copyright Association, China Written Works Copyright Society, Images Copyright Society of China and China Film Copyright Association were invited to attend and speak at the Roundtable.

Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WOC, introduced WIPO global services and products, resources and platforms to the representatives of Chinese copyright collective management organizations (CMOs), and also shared with them the work plan and priorities of the WOC for 2021. Ms. Liu regards WIPO as golden knowledge assets, bringing together the wisdom of people from all over the world as well as serving them. In response to the nature and functions of copyright CMOs, Ms. Liu highlighted information on WIPO PROOF digital business service, WIPO alternative dispute resolution (ADR), WIPO Lex, Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), WIPO Connect and WIPO Academy. Ms. Liu also encouraged copyright CMOs to make use of WIPO global services and products and to better play their role as a bridge in protecting legal rights of the copyright owners and facilitating legal use by the users.

Ms. Liu pointed out that the overall scale of China's copyright industry has further expanded in 2019 and has steadily increased its share in China's national economy with 7.39% of GDP in 2019, which provides a new driving force to the cooperation between WIPO and China in copyright and related rights.

Looking into 2021, the WOC will continue to follow the latest developments in copyright collective management and help Chinese copyright CMOs make better use of the golden knowledge assets that WIPO offers. In terms of international exchanges, the WOC will actively promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese copyright CMOs and the international community on practical experiences and practices of copyright collective management, drawing on international experience and disseminating Chinese best practices, by making use of WIPO's resources in collective management.

Mr. Liu Ping, Deputy Director General of Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC), said that MCSC hopes to strengthen cooperation with WIPO, learn from the advanced experiences of foreign CMOs and share Chinese best practices with the world, with the aim to promote WIPO PROOF to its members, protect music copyright and promote the development of music industry with the use of this platform.

Mr. Zhou Yaping, Vice Chairman and Acting Director-General of the China Audio-Video Copyright Association (CAVCA), said that in response to the growing demand, CAVCA has digitized its management system and hopes to cooperate with WIPO's databases and platforms in this regard. Mr. Ma Jichao, Deputy Director General of CAVCA, also said that WIPO has provided CMOs worldwide with toolkits, publications and databases. He looks forward to the further cooperation with WIPO.

Mr. Zhang Hongbo, Director General of China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS), said that amid the epidemic, the importance of written works copyright protection has been increasing for the development of industries such as webcast classes and online education. CWWCS would further cooperate with WIPO in this regard. Mr. Liang Fei, Deputy Director General of CWWCS, hopes that WIPO PROOF would provide useful solutions to SMEs in promoting and protecting their IP rights.

Mr. Lin Tao, Director General of Images Copyright Society of China (ICSC), said that WIPO’s legal opinions have provided direct legal reference to the amendment to the Chinese Copyright Law. Mr. Lin said that ICSC is willing to work with WIPO in the area of promoting protection of droit de suite and capacity building.

Ms. Shi Wenxia, Deputy Secretary-General of China Film Copyright Association (CFCA), hopes to make extensive use of WIPO's services, especially WIPO PROOF, as well as to expand and strengthen cooperation with WIPO.

Last but not least, Ms. Liu said that the opinions and suggestions from Chinese copyright CMOs are well received. WIPO and the WOC look forward to building a mutually beneficial cooperation mechanism with China. Going forward, WIPO and the WOC will follow closely the industry of copyright and related rights as well as the cultural and creative industries.