In 2023, all copyright authorities and registration agencies across China did solid and orderly work in copyright registration under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, while fully implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and studying the Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, providing strong copyright support for the Chinese modernization. China’s copyright registrations in 2023 are reported as follows.

I.Overview

The year 2023 witnessed a total of 8,923,901 copyright registrations in China, up 40.46% over 2022.

II.Copyright Registration of Works

The statistics of the copyright administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC) showed that there were 6,428,277 copyright registrations of works in 2023, up 42.30% over the previous year.

Overall, China’s copyright registrations of works witnessed substantial growth. Major contributors included Beijing with 1,101,072 registrations that accounted for 17.13% of the national total, followed by Shandong (873,826, 13.59%), Fujian (710,648, 11.06%), CPCC (493,070, 7.67%), and Shanghai (412,660, 6.42%). The aforesaid registrations took up 55.87% of the national total. Compared with 2022, the copyright registrations of works in Henan, Tibet, Shandong, Fujian, Hebei, Jiangxi, Yunnan and Qinghai increased by more than 100%, and those of Xinjiang, Hunan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Tianjin and Jilin rose by more than 50%.

In respect of the categories of works, 3,296,437 works of fine arts were registered, accounting for 51.28% of the total, followed by photographic works (2,501,968, 38.92%), written works (329,128, 5.12%), and film and television works (118,544, 1.84%). These aforesaid categories of works accounted for 97.17% of the total. In addition, 42,793 video recordings (0.67%), 35,547 graphic works (0.55%), 25,766 musical works (0.40%), 19,446 sound recordings (0.30%) and 5,946 models, dramas, folk art and architectural works combined (0.09%) were registered, respectively.

III.Copyright Registration of Computer Software

According to CPCC’s statistics, there were copyright registrations of 2,495,213 pieces of computer software in 2023 nationwide, up by 35.95% year on year, hitting a 5-year new high in terms of both the number of registrations and growth rate.

In terms of distribution of registration areas, East China stood out with approximately 1.47 million pieces registered, taking up 59% of the total.

In terms of number of registrations by region, Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Sichuan, Shandong, Hubei, Anhui and Shaanxi, in descending order, altogether registered approximately 1.75 million pieces (70% of the total), in which Guangdong alone registered more than 260,000 pieces (11% of the total).

IV.Registration of Copyright Pledges

According to CPCC’s statistics, 411 copyright pledges were registered in 2023 nationwide, up by 17.43% year on year. To be more specific, the number of contracts involved increased by 31.27% year on year to 382; the number of works involved grew by 36.88% year on year to 2,082; the amounts of principal debts involved rose by 82.82% year on year to RMB9,958,174,000, and; the guarantee amounts involved jumped by 80.85% year on year to RMB9,857,838,800.

361 copyright pledges of computer software were registered, reporting a year-on-year increase of 28.01%; the number of contracts involved grew by 28.01% year on year to 361; the number of software involved rose by 39.85% year on year to 2,032; the amounts of principal debts involved soared by 148.30% year on year to RMB9,171,490,600, and, the guarantee amounts involved jumped by 145.83% year on year to RMB9,073,995,600.

50 copyright pledges of works (other than computer software) were registered, down by 26.47% year on year; the number of contracts involved increased by 133.33% year on year to 21; the number of works involved fell by 26.47% year on year to 50; the amounts of principal debts involved dropped by 55.13% year on year to RMB786,683,400; and the guarantee amounts involved declined by 55.46% year on year to RMB783,843,200.

All regional copyright authorities and registration agencies should further enhance the efficiency of copyright registration, drive the high-quality development of the copyright industry through copyright registration, and take concrete actions to implement the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the National Conference on Publicity, Ideology and Cultural Work.