On April 26, in 2019 National Conference on Copyright Protection and Development in Digital Environment, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Ministry of Public Security jointly launched a special campaign against online infringement and piracy “Jianwang 2019”.

An official from Copyright Department of NCAC said that “Jianwang 2019” campaign would pay close attention to online infringement problems which were tops concerns of copyright holders and the public. It would keep strengthening supervision on copyright law enforcement and standardize copyright order in relevant industries, and actively respond to challenges brought by new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, blockchain, etc. By increasingly improving the capacities of online copyright management and governance, the campaign aimed to create a good online environment for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The campaign started from the end of April and would finish at the end of October. Five major crackdowns would be executed in six months: firstly, special copyright protection on integrated media development would be deepened. The campaign would severely crack down infringement of unauthorized reprinting of mainstream media news and articles, and seriously punish We-media plagiarizing, tampering, and deleting news or articles from mainstream media. It would ban and close illegal news websites (website channel) and Weibo accounts, WeChat accounts, headlines platforms, Baijiahao(Baidu’s version of similar collaborative user-generated media platforms) and other internet users public accounts; Secondly, online copyright for theatrical films would be strictly managed. While severely cracking down illegal camcording of theatrical films and the distribution of piracy movies and TV products through network disk, Weibo, WeChat, Taobao and other channels, the campaign would also focus on regulating copyright order for the screening and distribution activities by on-demand cinemas and on-demand cinemas chains, and punish illegal distribution of piracy films and TV products through setting up servers overseas. Thirdly, copyright supervision on streaming media hardware and software would be strengthened. Illegally disseminating works owned by others from streaming media hardware such as IPTV, OTT and intelligent terminals, streaming media software and aggregated software, and selling various cracked and jailbreak version of OTT products through e-commerce platforms should be strictly cracked down; Fourthly, the order of copyright protection and operation in photo market would be regulated. The campaign would strictly investigate photo companies illegally disseminating works owned by others through counterfeiting authorization or false authorization, and regulate illegal practices or violations in copyright business of photo companies, such as unclear rights and ownership, abuse of rights, and improper protection of rights, so as to encourage related enterprises to protect their lawful rights and build a healthy and orderly photo copyright market; Fifthly, the outcomes of copyright governance in key online areas would be consolidated. The campaign would continue to strengthen copyright management on platforms including short videos, audio books, knowledge sharing, and live broadcast, and consolidate outcomes in managing online videos, music, literature, animation, APP stores, and online disk.

The official from Copyright Department of NCAC emphasized that the campaign would focus on problems and prioritize cases investigations. Local copyright law-enforcement authorities should increase administrative punishment. Infringement and piracy from Internet applications which caused big social concern or social harm should be investigated strictly. Their ICP records or telecommunication business license should be revoked by relevant authorities, and access to them should be stopped. Those suspected of committing a crime should be transferred to public security authorities for investigation according to the connection mechanism between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice; Platform governance should be strengthened by pushing platform enterprises to report clues of crimes and cooperate with investigations, and internet service providers to fulfill their legal obligations including “notice and take down”. Publicity of major cases and typical cases should be enhanced, and internet operators which failed to fulfill their obligations should be exposed resolutely. Complaints and reports from the public should be encouraged, and incentives should be provided to those who reported verified clues for cases under investigation.