International Copyright Training on Overseas Risk Prevention and Control of Copyright Industry 2021 Held in Xiamen

July 12, 2021

The International Copyright Training on Overseas Risk Prevention and Control of Copyright Industry 2021 was jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) on July 7 to 9, 2021 in Xiamen. Ms. LIU Hua, Director of the WIPO Office in China (WOC), and Ms. ZHAO Xiuling, Deputy Director General of Copyright Department, NCAC, attended and addressed the training course.

Director Liu Hua said that the world today is facing a major change that has not been seen in a century, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this change. Industrial development has suffered setbacks such as broken capital chains and interrupted cooperation, and has also given rise to numerous new industries. The great digital development has also increased the digital divide, and international trade disputes and transnational disputes are increasing and intensifying, but at the same time a broader range of cooperation has emerged. The world calls for a balanced, healthy and inclusive international system to address these challenges and to turn them into opportunities for development. As the specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for global intellectual property affairs, WIPO is committed to building a balanced and effective international intellectual property system that protects and encourages innovation and creativity through the provision of efficient and timely global intellectual property services, and provides member countries with ways and means to address challenges and promote development.

Ms. Liu pointed out that the global creative economy has been expanding in recent years, with China dominating trade in creative products and services. The Creative Economy Outlook Report released by the United Nations Trade and Development Organization in 2019 shows that the export growth rate of creative products has exceeded 7% over the past 13 years, and the value of the global creative products market grew from $208 billion in 2002 to $509 billion in 2015. Growth has been particularly significant in China, which is the largest single exporter and importer of creative goods and services. In addition, China's copyright industry is also growing rapidly, accounting for an increasing proportion of the national economy and gaining prominence: the value of the copyright industry accounted for 7.39% of GDP in 2019, with an industry value added of RMB7.32 trillion, up 10.34% year-on-year. For the overseas risk prevention and control of Chinese creative products, Liu Hua highlighted WIPO global IP services and products to help prevent and control copyright risks, including WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Services, WIPO PROOF, WIPO Alert and WIPO Lex, and etc.

Ms. Liu said that since the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with NCAC in 2015, WIPO and NCAC have carried out extensive and in-depth cooperation and collaboration, including projects such as the Copyright Gold Award, the International Copyright Forum, the International Copyright Expo, and the Best Cases of promotion of enhanced copyright protection to the local development, and have achieved excellent results in cooperating to promote the entry into force of the Beijing Treaty and the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty. WIPO sees great future in China’s IP undertakings and is willing to further deepen and expand the cooperation with NCAC in the area of copyright, thus providing more targeted, more timely, and higher-quality IP services for Chinese stakeholders.

Deputy Director General Ms. Zhao Xiuling mentioned that China's copyright industry is booming, more and more enterprises are going abroad and actively expanding the international market. The copyright trade with other countries is steadily improving, the export value of the copyright industry is growing continuously, and the proportion of the total exports of goods in the country is stable at more than 11%. However, Chinese enterprises inevitably face many difficulties and risks in copyright when "going abroad", especially for enterprises relying on the content products or copyright elements, the international risks of copyright are more frequent and prominent. For this reason, great importance shall be attached to the prevention and control of international copyright risks at the levels of government, enterprises and industry associations, an international risk prevention and control system shall be built, and the awareness and ability of Chinese copyright industry to prevent and control international risks shall be enhanced. In addition, it is also necessary to play the role of international organizations, industrial associations and collective management organizations.

Experts from both abroad and domestic, including Mr. ZHENG Wei，Deputy Director of Legal Department，China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); Mr. HU Kaizhong, Professor of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law; Mr. Benjamin Ng, Regional Director for Asia Pacific of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC); Mr. Ignacio de Castro, Director, IP Disputes and External Relation Division of WIPO; Mr. XU Guojian, Senior Partner, Boss & Young, Attorneys at Law; Mr. RAN Handong, Partner of Maucher Jenkins; Mr. Geoff Hussey, Partner of AA Thornton; Mr. YAN Bo, Deputy Director of Copyright Operation Center of General Manager Office of China Central Television Group were invited and delivered lectures on topics including copyright and related creative industry development and overseas risk prevention and control, alternative dispute resolution mechanism in the development of copyright industry, and international Risk prevention and control of Film and Television Rights。Case analysis and experience on overseas risk prevention and control of copyright industry were shared.

About the International Copyright Training on Overseas Risk Prevention and Control of Copyright Industry

Co-hosted by WIPO and the NCAC, the International Copyright Training on Overseas Risk Prevention and Control of Copyright Industry aims to strengthen copyright promotion and talent training in the area of copyright, promote communications between all levels of the organizations and navigate the future. In this way, the Training will better stimulate innovation and protect innovation achievements. About 100 participants from local copyright agencies, publishing houses, copyright associations, audio visual enterprises and cultural companies from all over China attended the Training and had been granted the certificates in the training course held in Xiamen this year.