The Capital Copyright Society in China: supporting China’s creative industries
The Capital Copyright Society (CSS) in China was established in June 2013, with a view to promoting and strengthening the development of the creative industries in China. CCS is a cross-industry professional organization that brings together rights creators and holders, legal specialists and other actors within the field of copyright. It currently has more than 400 corporate and individual members including 11 national industry associations and societies; more than 30 large-scale online specialists; three large publishing groups; several copyright-creation enterprises and individual members in software, film and television, music, architectural design, publishing and news media.
The CCS focuses on providing high-volume, online copyright protection and mediation services, capable of matching the high demand for copyright protection in China. These services support CCS members in the management and use of their copyright-protected assets. They include copyright registration and certification, copyright verification, investigation and evidence collection in the event of litigation, copyright monitoring and a mediation service to resolve copyright disputes.
Overview of services offered by CCS
CSS also supports its members in IP risk management in terms of analyzing and assessing risks of infringement and litigation and also offers professional training in this area.
High-volume copyright support services
In 2021, CSS provided copyright monitoring services covering 7.3 million works. It further checked 11.67 million suspected infringement links and took down 10.11 million infringing pages. The service provides free copyright monitoring for small and medium-sized copyright owning businesses. It also advises on the use of legitimate platforms and offers a service to resolve copyright-related disputes.
In 2021, the CSS dispute resolution service considered and resolved 10,532 cases. A further 6,230 cases were settled with settlements amounting to RMB 150.94 million and a settlement rate of 59.15 percent.
Online mediation through the newly created Beijing Copyright Online Mediation Platform is the dispute resolution service approved by the Chinese government. Mediation is offered to rights holders to enable fair and swift decisions to be made and recorded under the oversight of the Beijing Internet Court. In 2021, this new platform handled 3,130 cases with a settlement rate of 96.7 percent. This high-volume online system offers China’s digital creators fast, reliable and clear legal decisions and plays a key role in unlocking the latent value of China’s creative economy.
For future
The high-volume copyright support services provided by CCS will continue to improve with the development of technology. For example, the online monitoring business has achieved precise and detailed services, and it is expected that by the end of 2022, personalized services for different fields (videos, audios, pictures, articles) and different customers will be realized, with improving the service accuracy.
In terms of mediation, the Beijing Copyright Mediation Center has received strong support from the Copyright Administration Department since its establishment. In 2022, CCS has intensified its cooperation with the Copyright Administration Department, while strengthening the connection with the Beijing Internet Court. The Beijing Internet Court can guide mediators to solve the dispute through the online mediation platform. Besides, the Beijing Internet Court will also provide the judicial confirmation. Generally speaking, a mediation agreement is regarded as a contract and is not legally enforceable. In cooperation with the Beijing Internet Court, CCS can conduct judicial confirmation of the mediation agreement to ensure that both parties to the case can obtain legally guaranteed documents.
The CCS is providing online notary services for copyright owners in 2022. Through this service, owners can collect evidence more conveniently by taking pictures and videos in real time. The online notary platform will store the relevant data online. Finally, according to the needs of the owners, the notary office can issue legal documents.
In summary, the CCS will further provide more comprehensive copyright services and more convenient channels for copyright owners for SMEs, including monitoring, mediation, consulting, litigation, etc. At the same time, in cultural parks of Beijing, more copyright workstations will be established. CCS considers the cultural and creative products of SME parks to be the focus of copyright protection, striving to maximize the copyright value of SME products.