April 26 marked the 17th anniversary of the World Intellectual Property Day, on which day the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) held 2017 National Conference on Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment in Beijing. Persons in charge of such departments as the Publicity Department, CCCPC, the CAC and the MIIT, as well as representatives from the central press units, copyright industry, academic community and legal practitioners carried out extensive discussion around the theme “Innovation – Improving Lives”. Zhou Huilin, Vice Minister of SAPPRFT and NCAC, attended the conference and delivered a keynote speech. At the conference, ten central news units, including Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily and CCTV, initiated the establishment of the News Media Copyright Protection Alliance.

Zhou Huilin pointed out in his speech that with the comprehensive integration of the network into the economy and society, the creation and spreading of copyright were more abundant, the transaction and utilization were more convenient, and the application and transformation were more extensive. Copyright had become an important basic resource for the development of the Internet industry. The number of users of online news, online videos, online music, online games and online literature topped the list of Internet applications. High-quality IP found favor in the eyes of more and more enterprises, and the value of copyright resources became more prominent, showing a very vast potential for future development. To achieve creative development of network copyright, we should base ourselves on the overall situation of the Party and the state, as well as further seize new opportunities, recognize new situations and meet new challenges.

Zhou Huilin stressed that to promote the sustainable development of industries related to network copyright, we should always adhere to the concept of innovative development, and strive to make a new breakthrough in terms of the content, spread, system and management. First, we should adhere to innovation in copyright contents, vigorously produce healthy and excellent works that the people love and have rich contents, as well as further improve the system for registration of works and filing of copyright pledge and transfer contracts, in order to better encourage and support content creation. Second, we should adhere to innovation in copyright spreading, actively promote the establishment of the copyright trading platform and the copyright value evaluation system, improve copyright industry organization, and actively explore the license mechanism consistent with the features of the Internet. Third, we should adhere to innovation in the copyright system, and actively promote the third revision of the Copyright Law in accordance with the requirements of active and comprehensive adjustment. Fourth, we should adhere to innovation in copyright management, continue to place the network as the main front and main battlefield of copyright management, constantly strengthen the Internet thinking, adhere to policy guidance and management according to law at the same time, pay equal attention to law enforcement supervision and service development, as well as further give full play to the important role of copyright law enforcement supervision in the digital environment, so as to effectively safeguard copyright security in the digital environment.

You Xueyun, Deputy Director of Coordination and Law Enforcement Bureau of Cyberspace Administration of China(CAC), and Director of WIPO China Office Chen Hongbing made speeches at the conference. Zhang Kangkang, Vice President of China Writers Association and also a famous writer, Ding Lei, Netease Founder and CEO, Zhang Chaoyang, Sohu Board Chairman and CEO, Chen Yidan, a main founder of Tencent, and Yu Yongfu, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment Group, respectively delivered a keynote speech.

At the conference, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, China Daily, Central National Radio, CCTV, China Radio International, China News Service and China Search initiated the establishment of the News Media Copyright Protection Alliance. Zhou Huilin, Vice Minister of SAPPRFT and NCAC, Liu Zhengrong, Vice President of Xinhua News Agency, Zhang Baixin, Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Journalists Association, Feng Shixin, Vice Director of the Publication Bureau of the Publicity Department, CCCPC and persons in charge of the first batch of member units of the News Media Copyright Protection Alliance attended the establishment ceremony. China Search President Zhou Xisheng read the Declaration of the Alliance.

At the conference, Yu Cike, Director General of Copyright Department of NCAC issued Top 10 cases of cracking down on piracy in 2016, and Liu Duo, President of China Academy of Information and Communication Technology, published the Annual Report on China’s Network Copyright Protection 2016.

Update: April 26, 2017