Enhance Online Copyright Protection and Promote Copyright Industry Development

June 3, 2021

On June 1, the 2021 National Conference on Copyright Protection and Development in Digital Environment, entitled "Strengthening Copyright Protection and Promoting the Construction of a New Development Pattern", was organized by the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) in Beijing. Ms. LIU Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China (WOC), attended the conference and delivered a keynote speech.

In her speech, Ms. Liu said that this conference is a major event for the Chinese copyright community to celebrate the entry into force of the new copyright law and the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the first copyright law of the People's Republic of China.

Ms. Liu mentioned that WIPO has always attached importance to the online copyright protection, and followed closely the development of China's Internet industry and its online copyright protection. In 2000, WIPO established the Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) with a mandate to carry out technical assistance and coordination in the field of enforcement. The committee focuses on coordinating with public and private organizations to combat counterfeiting and piracy. Chinese companies such as Alibaba have been invited to participate in the meetings of the ACE to share their experiences in combating online counterfeiting and piracy with their counterparts in other countries. WIPO has organized the Conference on Global Digital Content Market since 2016 to discuss copyright protection and the development of the creative economy in the digital environment. Chinese companies such as iQIYI, Tencent Music and Firstbrave Technology have been invited to speak at the conference.

Ms. Liu introduced WIPO's service systems and products, including the policy forum, the databases, the registration systems, the cooperation platforms and WIPO Academy, with a special focus on WIPO PROOF and WIPO Alert, two WIPO services and platforms that can facilitate online copyright protection.

WIPO PROOF, a new digital business service launched by WIPO in May 2020, provides a date- and time-stamped digital fingerprint of any file, proving its existence at a specific point in time. WIPO PROOF offers innovators and creators in virtually all industries a fast and effective way to safeguard digital files, at an affordable cost.

WIPO ALERT is a secure, online platform to which authorized bodies in WIPO member states can upload details of websites or apps which have been determined to infringe copyright according to national rules. Advertisers, advertising agencies and their technology service providers can apply to become authorized users of WIPO ALERT in order to access aggregated lists of infringing websites from around the world. They can use this information in their automated advertising systems to avoid placing advertisements on such sites. In this way, they can avoid subsidizing copyright infringement and protect their brands from the negative reputational effect of association with illegal activities.

Ms. Liu pointed out that according to the Global Innovation Index 2020, China has retained its 14th place and is the only middle-income economy among the top 30. It maintained its world leadership in many indicators, such as patents by origin, utility models, trademarks, Industrial designs and creative products exports. In addition, it hosts 17 of the top global science and technology clusters, the second largest in the world. This shows that its position as an innovation leader has been established.

As an extension of WIPO in China, the WOC will, in line with the purposes and principles of WIPO, continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination with Chinese stakeholders, continue to expand and deepen cooperation with the NCAC in the field of copyright, provide more qualified, timely and efficient services to the Chinese stakeholders and make greater contribution to the copyright development in China.