This week, the future of copyright law is a much-discussed subject worldwide, among policy makers and business people. In France, politicians are re-evaluating their Three Strikes policy, in the U.S. and Europe,  new ways to combat illegal file sharing is a much-debated subject and in Australia, creative industry stakeholders call for stricter copyright rules to fight illegal downloading. 

Meanwhile in China, where copyright is still in an earlier stage of development, new ideas on copyright law have been proposed by the government as well. In a draft proposal to amend the law the Chinese propose to introduce new legal titles to hold copyrights for creative productions. 

Under current Chinese copyright law, the copyright of films and other similar productions belongs exclusively to the producer. Other contributors, such as artists, writers and directors, are entitled to be mentioned in the film credits, but do not share the copyright. They receive payment on a contractual basis with producers, for their work during the production stage of the project.

The Chinese legislator had released the new law in it’s draft stadium some time ago, as to obtain public feedback before proceeding with their proposal. China has now released the second draft to the public last month; it is a fiercely discussed piece of legislation due to the huge amount of public and corporate interests involved in this subject. 

Although most parties contributing to films get paid, local experts believe screenwriters are paid relatively little. The new law would grant them a share of the copyright and the right for royalties for showings and broadcasts of the film. However, the proposal is hotly debated because of the various (and sometimes opposing) interests and practical concerns that have to be dealt with when changing copyright law. Chinese screenwriters, directors and other creative professionals welcome the draft, while producers, film executives and investors oppose it. Li Shaohong, the president of China Film Director's Guild, said that directors should be listed as the author of a film, and should have the rights to collect more payment than their contracts stipulate. Wang Hailin, a famous screenwriter, states that screenwriters should be counted as authors and therefore as co-creators. "We write the story!" he wrote on his blog. 

However Hu Ming, vice president of Huayi Bros. Media, a Beijing-based film production company is afraid of what the draft will do to the film industry; "Everyone can shut down their business if the draft passes," he said. An Xiaofen, producer of the 2008 Hong Kong kung fu blockbuster ‘Ip Man’ agrees with him; "The film industry is losing money ? 90 percent of films lose money. [If] we have to pay screen writers and directors again and again, it doesn't make sense for us to go on,"  According to Chinese filmstudios, this legal development could result in industry players to consider leaving the film market, if the draft passes. 

Xu Xinming said the draft is intended to respect and defend the interests of authors, but would be very hard to enforce. "It will involve too many people. It will not be clear from whom screenwriters and directors should seek payment, or for how much. [If] a film cannot be easily played, involving so many people will cause harm," Xu said.

China has one of the fastest growing entertainment industries worldwide. Since imported films are still the majority of the Chinese market (70%), changes in Chinese copyright law will influence copyright holders worldwide. We will keep you updated on this subject, and we are interested to see in which direction Chinese copyright law will develop. 

Read more about China’s copyright law on Future of Copyright:

• Chinese court: copyright on adaptations to traditional art
• China plans to double penalties for copyright infringement

Sources: China.org, TorrentFreak, Daily Dot, Research and Markets

Written by: Nathalie Falot