The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court Concerning Several Issues on Application of Law in Hearing Correctly the Civil Copyright
(Adopted on 12 October 2002 at the 1246th Meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the Supreme People's Court; Promulgated on October 15, 2002)
In order to hear correctly the cases concerning copyright civil disputes, several issues on application of law are interpreted as follows according to the provisions of the General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Procedural Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws:
Article 1 The People's Court accepts the following cases of civil dispute concerning copyrights: (a) cases of copyrights and their relevant interests and ownership, infringement, and contractual disputes; (b) cases in application for stopping the acts of infringement of the copyrights and their relevant rights and interests prior to the actions and those in application for property attachment and conservation of evidence prior to the action; and (c) other cases concerning the disputes over copyrights and their relevant rights and interests.
Article 2 The cases of civil dispute concerning copyrights shall be under the jurisdiction at level not lower than the Intermediate People's Court.
Various High People's Courts may according to the actual circumstances of their jurisdiction determine several basic-level People's Court to rule over the cases of civil dispute concerning copyrights of first instance.
Article 3 For the acts in infringement of copyrights that are under investigation by the administrative department of copyrights, when the party concerned initiates prosecution to the People's Court for pursuit of civil liabilities with the infringing party, People's Court should accept.
When investigating the cases of civil in infringement of copyrights that have been handled by the administrative department of copyrights, the People's Court should conduct complete investigation on the case fact.
Article 4 The civil proceedings initiated for acts in infringement of copyrights civil case should be governed by the local People's Courts where the infringing acts are committed, the infringing reproduced products are stored or confiscated as stipulated by Articles 46 and 47 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China or where the defendant are located.
The above-mentioned places where the infringing reproduced products are stored refer to the places where infringing reproduced products are stored or hidden in great volume or
frequently, and the places where the infringing reproduced products are confiscated refer to the places where the Customs, the copyright administration and industrial and commercial administration confiscate and detain the infringing reproduced products.
Article 5 For common litigation brought forth by multiple defendants from different places involving different infringement acts, the plaintiff can choose for jurisdiction by the People's Court of the place where the infringing act of one defendant take places and for the litigation initiated to only one defendant, the jurisdiction rests with the People's court where his or her infringing act take places.
Article 6 When the collective management agencies of copyrights set up by force of law initiates an action in its own name through written authorization by the copyright owners, the People's Court should accept.
Article 7 The work papers concerning copyrights provided by the parties in question, originals, and legitimate publications, registration certificate of the copyrights, certificates issued by the authentication institution and the contracts obtained may be taken as evidence.
The natural persons, legal persons or other organizations that sign on the works or products are deemed as the right holders of the copyrights and their relevant rights and interests unless otherwise proved.
Article 8 When the parties concerned purchase the infringing reproduced products in the form of purchase order or spot transaction by themselves or by agency, the physical objects and invoices obtained may be taken as evidence.
When the notaries public do not show their status to a party concerned who are suspect of infringing copyrights, the evidence actually obtained from the other party in the above- mentioned form and the notary certificate issued during obtaining of proofs shall be taken for use as evidence unless otherwise proved.
Article 9 "To make a work available to the public" as specified in Article 10 (1) of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China means to make the works available to unspecified people by the copyright owners or through their permission, provided that it has not become to he public.
Article 10 For the works specified in Article 15 (2) of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China when the copyright owners are natural persons, the term for their protection shall be as per the provision of Article 21 (1) of the Copyright Law and when the copyright owners are legal persons or other organizations, the term for their protection shall be as per the provision of Article 21 (2) of the Copyright Law
Article 11 In case of the disputes concerning the priority of signatures of the works, the People's Court shall handle according to the following principle: determining the signature order as per the covenant, if any; otherwise, determining the signature order as
per work done for the creation works, work list number of the strokes of the family name of the authors, etc.
Article 12 In case the ownership of copyright in a commissioned work belong to the commissioned party as specified by Article 17 of the Copyright Law, the commissioning party may be entitled to use the works within the use scope as covenanted; and if both the commissioning party and the commissioned party have not covenanted the use scope of the works, the commissioning party may use the works within the specific scope of the commissioned creation free of charge.
Article 13 Except for the cases as specified by Article 11 (3) of the Copyright Law, the copyrights of the reports, speeches and other works drafted by others but reviewed and finalized not by others and not published in the name of others, the copyright belong to the report maker or the speech maker. The copyright owners may pay the drafters proper remunerations.
Article 14 The copyrights of the autobiographical works completed based on the theme of the experiences of specific persons as agreed by the parties concerned follow the covenant, if any has been covenanted by the parties; otherwise, the copyrights belong such specific persons whose experiences are utilized, provided that the copyright owners may pay the drafter or the person who have been labored in arranging for the completion of the works.
Article 15 For the works created on the same theme by different authors, the expressions of which are creative and independently completed, the authors enjoy independent copyrights of their corresponding works.
Article 16 The purely factual messages transmitted by mass media belong to news on current affairs as specified by Article 5 (2) of the Copyright Law, and when transmitting or reporting the news on current affairs complied by others, the sources of the compilation should be indicated.
Article 17 The reprints as specified by article 32 (2) of the Copyright Law refer to the act of printing by newspapers or magazines of the works already published on other newspapers or magazines. In case the reprinting has not indicate the author of the reprinted works or the sources of the original printing newspapers or magazines, civil responsibilities should be undertaken, such as eliminating he adverse influence or making apologies，etc.
Article 18 The artistic work located or on display in an outdoor public place as specified by Article 22 (10) of the Copyright Law refers to sculptures, paintings, calligraphies and other artistic works that are displayed or located in an outdoor public place.
For the copy, painting, photographs or video figures of the above-mentioned artistic works, the results may be used in reasonable form and within reasonable scope, which does not constitute any infringement.
Article 19 The publishers and producers shall take the burden of proof for legitimate authorization of their publications and productions, and the distributors and leasers shall take the burden of proof for legitimate sources of the reproduced products they distribute or lease. Otherwise, they shall undertake the corresponding legal responsibilities in Article s 46 and 47 of the Copyright Law.
Article 20 In case the publications infringe upon the copyrights of others, the publishers shall undertake the civil compensatory liabilities in consideration of their faults, degree of infringement, and the consequential damages.
In case the publishers have not take the duties of reasonable cares for the authorization of their publishing acts, the sources and signature of the manuscripts and the content of publications under edition, they shall undertake the compensatory liabilities according to the provisions of Article 48 of the Copyright Law.
In case the publishers have taken the duties of reasonable care and the copyright owners have not evidence to show that the publishers should have known the infringement involved in their publications, the publishers shall undertake the civil responsibilities for stopping the infringement and returning the profits obtained through infringement according to the provision of Article 117 of the General Principles of Civil Law.
The publishers shall take the burden of proof for indicating that they have taken the duties of reasonable cares.
Article 21 In case the users of computer software make commercial use of the computer software without permission or beyond the scope of permission, civil responsibilities should be undertaken according to the provisions of Article 47 (1) of the Copyright Law and Article 24 (1) of the Regulation on Protection of Computer Software.
Article 22 In case the contract on transfer of copyrights does not adopt a written form, the People's Court shall examine and check to see whether the contract is established according to the provisions of Articles 36 and 37 of the Contract Law.
Article 23 In case the publishers has lost or destroyed the works delivered by the copyright owners for publishing, enabling failure of the performance of the publishing contract, the publishers should be accorded with civil responsibilities according to the provisions of Article 53 of the Copyright Law, Article 117 of the General Principles of Civil Law and Article 122 of the Contract Law.
Article 24 The actual losses of the copyright owners may be calculated as the multiplication of the decreased distribution volume of the reproduced products due to the infringement or the sale volume of the infringing reproduced products by the unit profits of the reproduced products of the copyright owners. In case the decreased distribution volume is hard to determine, it may be determined according to the market sale volume of infringing reproduced products.
Article 25 In case the actual losses of the copyright owners or the illegitimate revenues of the infringing party cannot be determined, the People's Court shall determine the amount of compensations as per the request of the parties concerned or according to the provisions of Article 48 (2) of the Copyright Law at their discretion within their powers.
When determining the amount of compensations, the People's Court shall comprehensively consider the work type, reasonable usage fee, nature of infringing acts, results, and other relevant circumstances.
It shall be allowed for the party concerned to reach an agreement on the amount of compensations according to the provision of this Article.
Article 26 The reasonable expenses paid for stopping the infringing acts as specified by Article 48 (1) of the Copyright Law include reasonable fees occurred from investigating on the infringing acts and obtaining evidences.
The People's Court may calculate in the compensations the attorney's fees according to the provisions of the relevant state departments in consideration of the proceeding claims and specific circumstance of cases of the parties concerned.
Article 27 In terms of the cases under pleading for the infringing acts of copyrights occurred prior to the implementation of the decision on the revised copyright law for which the People's Court provides findings after the implementation of the decision on the revised copyright law, references may taken in applying the provision of Article 48 of the Copyright Law.
Article 28 The time limit for actions of copyright infringement is two years, starting from the date when the copyright owners have known or should have known the infringing acts. If the copyright owners bring the action beyond two years and if the infringing act still remains when the action is brought, the People's Court shall within the term for protection of the copyrights offer findings against the defendant for stopping the infringing acts; and the amount of compensations for infringement shall be calculated for two years taken backward from the date when the copyright owners brought the action with the People's Court.
Article 29 In case of the infringing acts specified by Article 47 of the Copyright Law, the People's Court may in addition to prosecuting infringing party with civil responsibilities as per the request by the parties concerned accord civil punishment according to the provision of Article 134 of the General Principles of Civil Law, with the amount of fine to be determined by reference with the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Implementation of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China.
In case the administrative department of copyrights has accorded the same infringing acts with administrative punishment, the People's Court shall not accord civil punishment.
Article 30For the infringing acts of copyrights occurred prior to October 27, 2001, the provisions of Articles 49 and 50 of the Copyright Law shall be applicable when the parties concerned have after October 27, 2001 applied with the People's Court for adopting the order to stop the infringing acts or take measures for conservation of evidence.
In case of taking the pre-trial measures, the People's Court shall proceed by reference with the provisions of the Interpretations of the Supreme Peopl's Court on the Applicable Laws Concerning the Pre-trial Stop of the Acts Infringing the Rights for Exclusive Use of Registered Trademarks and the Conservation of Evidences.
Article 31 Unless otherwise provided by the Interpretations, the cases of civil dispute concerning copyrights accepted by the People's Court after October 27, 2001, if involving the civil acts occurred prior to October 27, 2001, shall adopt the provisions of the Copyright Law before the revision; if involving the civil acts occurred after October 27, 2001, shall adopt the provisions of the revised Copyright Law; and if involving the civil acts occurred prior to October 27, 2001 but lasting after such date, shall adopt the provisions of the revised Copyright Law.
Article 32 In case of any discrepancy between previous provisions and the Interpretations, the Interpretations shall prevail.
中华人民共和国最高人民法院公告
《最高人民法院关于审理著作权民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释》已于2002年10月12日由最高人民法院审判委员会第1246次会议通过。现予公 布，自2002年10月15日起施行。 最高人民法院 2002年10月12日 最高人民法院关于审理著作权 民事纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释 （2002年10月12日最高人民法院审判 委员会第1246次会议通过 法释[2002]31号） 为了正确审理著作权民事纠纷案件，根据《中华人民共和国民法通 则》、《中华人民共和国合同法》、《中华人民共和国著作权法》、《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》等法律的规定，就适用法律若干问题解释如下：
第一条 人民法院受理以下著作权民事纠纷案件： （一）著作权及与著作权有关权益权属、侵权、合同纠纷案件； （二）申请诉前停止侵犯著作权、与著作权有关权益行为，申请诉前财产保全、诉 前证据保全案件； （三）其他著作权、与著作权有关权益纠纷案件。
第二条 著作权民事纠纷案件，由中级以上人民法院管辖。 各高级人民法院根据本 辖区的实际情况，可以确定若干基层人民法院管辖第一审著作权民事纠纷案件。
第三条 对著作权行政管理部门查处的侵犯著作权行为，当事人向人民法院提起诉讼追究该行为人 民事责任的，人民法院应当受理。 人民法院审理已经过著作权行政管理部门处理的侵犯著作权行为的民事纠纷案件，应当对案件事实进行全面审查。
第四条 因侵犯著作权行为提 起的民事诉讼，由著作权法第四十六条、第四十七条所规定侵权行为的实施地、侵权复制品储藏地或者查封扣押地、被告住所地人民法院管辖。 前款 规定的侵权复制品储藏地，是指大量或者经营性储存、隐匿侵权复制品所在地；查封扣押地，是指海关、版权、工商等行政机关依法查封、扣押侵权复制品所在地。
第五条 对涉及不同侵权行为 实施地的多个被告提起的共同诉讼，原告可以选择其中一个被告的侵权行为实施地人民法院管辖；仅对其中某一被告提起的诉讼，该被告侵权行为实施地的人民法院 有管辖权。
第六条 依法成立 的著作权集体管理组织，根据著作权人的书面授权，以自己的名义提起诉讼，人民法院应当受理。
第七条 当事人提供的涉及著作权的底稿、原件、合法出版物、著作权登记证书、认证机构出具 的证明、取得权利的合同等，可以作为证据。 在作品或者制品上署名的自然人、法人或者其他组织视为著作权、与著作权有关权益的权利人，但有相 反证明的除外。
第八条 当事 人自行或者委托他人以定购、现场交易等方式购买侵权复制品而了取得的实物、发票等，可以作为证据。 公证人员在未向涉嫌侵权的一方当事人表明 身份的情况下，如实对另一方当事人按照前款规定的方式取得的证据和取证过程出具的公证书，应当作为证据使用，但有相反证据的除外。
第九条 著作权法第十条第（一）项规定的“公之于众”，是 指著作权人自行或者经著作权人许可将作品向不特定的人公开，但不以公众知晓为构成条件。
第十条 著作权法第十五条第二款所指的作品，著作权人是自然人的，其保护期适用著作权法第二 十一条第一款的规定；著作权人是法人或其他组织的，其保护期适用著作权法第二十一条第二款的规定。
第十一条 因作品署名顺序发生的纠纷，人民法院按照下列原则处理；有约定的按约定确定署名 顺序；没有约定的，可以按照创作作品付出的劳动、作品排列、作者姓氏笔划等确定署名顺序。
第十二条 按照著作权法第十七条规定委托作品著作权属于受托人的情形，委托人在约定的使用 范围内享有使用作品的权利；双方没有约定使用作品范围的，委托人可以在委托创作的特定目的范围内免费使用该作品。
第十三条 除著作权法第十一条第三款规定的情形外，由他人 执笔，本人审阅定稿并以本人名义发表的报告、讲话等作品，著作权归报告人或者讲话人享有。著作权人可以支付执笔人适当的报酬。
第十四条 当事人合意以特定人物经历为题材完成的自传体 作品，当事人对著作权权属有约定的，依其约定；没有约定的，著作权归该特定人物享有，执笔人或整理人对作品完成付出劳动的，著作权人可以向其支付适当的报 酬。
第十五条 由不同作者 就同一题材创作的作品，作品的表达系独立完成并且有创作性的，应当认定作者各自享有独立著作权。
第十六条 通过大众传播媒介传播的单纯事实消息属于著作权法第五条第（二）项规定的时事新 闻。传播报道他人采编的时事新闻，应当注明出处。
第十七条 著作权法第三十二条第二款规定的转载，是指报纸、期刊登载其他报刊已发表作品的行为。转载未注明被转载作品的作者和最初 登载的报刊出处的，应当承担消除影响、赔礼道歉等民事责任。
第十八条 著作权法第二十二条第（十）项规定的室外公共场所的艺术作品，是指设置或者陈列在 室外社会公众活动处所的雕塑、绘画、书法等艺术作品。 对前款规定艺术作品的临摹、绘画、摄影、录像人，可以对其成果以合理的方式和范围再行 使用，不构成侵权。
第十九条 出版者、制作者应当对其出版、制作有合法授权承担举证责任，发行者、出租者应当对其发行或者出租的复制品有合法来源承担举证责任。举证不能的，依据著作权 法第四十六条、第四十七条的相应规定承担法律责任。
第二十条 出版物侵犯他人著作权的，出版者应当根据其过错、侵权程度及损害后果等承担民事赔偿责任。 出版者对其出 版行为的授权、稿件来源和署名、所编辑出版物的内容等未尽到合理注意义务的，依据著作权法第四十八条的规定，承担赔偿责任。 出版者尽了合理 注意义务，著作权人也无证据证明出版者应当知道其出版涉及侵权的，依据民法通则第一百一十七条第一款的规定，出版者承担停止侵权、返还其侵权所得利润的民 事责任。 出版者所尽合理注意义务情况，由出版者承担举证责任。
第二十一条 计算机软件用户未经许可或者超过许可范围商业使用计算机软件的，依据著作权法第 四十七条第（一）项、《计算机软件保护条例》第二十四条第（一）项的规定承担民事责任。
第二十二条 著作权转让合同未采取书面形式的，人民法院依据合同法第三十六条、第三十七条的 规定审查合同是否成立。
第二十三条 出版者将著作权人交付出版的作品丢失、毁损致使出版合同不能履行的，依据著作权法第五十三条、民法通则第一百一十七条以及合同法第一百二十二条的规定追究 出版者的民事责任。
第二十四条 权利人的实际损失，可以根据权利人因侵权所造成复制品发行减少量或者侵权复制品销售量与权利人发行该复制品单位利润乘积计算。发行减少量难以确定的，按照 侵权复制品市场销售量确定。
第二十五条 权利人的实际损失或者侵权人的违法所得无法确定的，人民法院根据当事人的请求或者依职权适用著作权法第四十八条第二款的规定确定赔偿数额。 人民法院在确定赔偿数额时，应当考虑作品类型、合理使用费、侵权行为性质、后果等情节综合确定。 当事人按照本条第一款的规定就赔偿数额达成 协议的，应当准许。
第二十六条 著作权法第四十八条第一款规定的制止侵权行为所支付的合理开支，包括权利人或者委托代理人对侵权行为进行调查、取证的合理费用。 人民法院根 据当事人的诉讼请求和具体案情，可以将符合国家有关部门规定的律师费用计算在赔偿范围内。
第二十七条 在著作权法修改决定施行前发生的侵犯著作权行为起诉的案件，人民法院于该决定 施行后作出判决的，可以参照适用著作权法第四十八条的规定。
第二十八条 侵犯著作权的诉讼时效为两年，自著作权人知道或者应当知道侵权行为之日起计算。 权利人超过两年起诉的，如果侵权行为在起诉时仍在持续，在该著作权保护期内，人民法院应当判决被告停止侵权行为；侵权损害赔偿数额应当自权利人向人民法院 起诉之日起向前推算两年计算。
第二十九条 对著作权法第四十七条规定的侵权行为，人民法院根据当事人的请求除追究行为人民事责任外，还可以依据民法通则第一百三十四条第三款的规定给予民事制裁，罚 款数额可以参照《中华人民共和国著作权法实施条例》的有关规定确定。 著作权行政管理部门对相同的侵权行为已经给予行政处罚的，人民法院不再 予以民事制裁。
第三十条 对2001年10月27日前发生的侵犯著作权行为，当事人于2001年10月27日后向人民法院提出申请采取责令停止侵权行为或者证据保全措施的，适用著 作权法第四十九条、第五十条的规定。 人民法院采取诉前措施，参照《最高人民法院关于诉前停止侵犯注册商标专用权行为和保全证据适用法律问题 的解释》的规定办理。
第三十一条 除本解释另行规定外，2001年10月27日以后人民法院受理的著作权民事纠纷案件，涉及2001年10月27日前发生的民事行为的，适用修改前著作权法 的规定；涉及该日期以后发生的民事行为的，适用修改后著作权法的规定；涉及该日期前发生，持续到该日期后的民事行为的，适用修改后著作权法的规定。
第三十二条 以前的有关规定与本解释不一致的，以本解释 为准。
发布部门：最高人民法院 发布日期：2002年10月12日 实施日期：2002年10月15日 (中央法规)