WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIOIP/N/1/CHN/C/2
8 July 2002
(02-3790)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English/
anglais/
inglés
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
CHINA
The present document reproduces the text1 of the Regulations on Computer Software
Protection, as notified by China under Article 63 .2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/CHN/1).
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD
CHINE
Le présent document contient le texte1 du Règlement sur la protection des logiciels
d'ordinateur, qui a été notifié par la Chine au titr e de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document
IP/N/1/CHN/1).
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de PropiedadIntelectual relacionados con el Comercio
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO
CHINA
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de los Reglamentos sobre protección de los
soportes lógicos de ordenador, que China ha notificado en virtud de lo dispuesto en el párrafo 2 del
artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/CHN/1).
                                                     
1 In English only.  The text in the original language will be available for consultation by interested
Delegations at the WTO Secretariat./En anglais seulemen t.  Les délégations intéressées pourront consulter le
texte, dans sa langue d'origine, au Secrétariat de l'OM C./En inglés solamente.  Las delegaciones interesadas
podrán consultar en la Secretaría de la OMC el texto en su idioma original.IP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 2
REGULATIONS ON COMPUTER  SOFTWARE PROTECTION
Chapter I
General Provisions
Article 1.  These Regulations are instituted, in accordance with the Copyright Law of the People’s
Republic of China, in a view to protecting the ri ghts and interests of copyright owners of computer
software, regulating the relationship of interest generated in the development, dissemination and use
of computer software, encouraging the developm ent and application of computer software, and
promoting the development of software industry and the informatization of national economy.
Article 2.  As used in these Regulations, the term “computer software” (hereinafter referred to as
“software”) means computer programs and their relevant documents.
Article 3.  For the purposes of these Regulations:
(1) “computer program” shall mean a coded instruction sequence which may be executed by devices
with information processing capabilities such as computers, or a symbolic instruction sequence or
symbolic statement sequence which may be automatically converted into a coded instruction sequence
for the purpose of obtaining certain expected results; the source program and object program of acomputer program shall be deemed as one and the same work;
(2) “documents” shall mean literal descriptions or charts used to describe the content, structure,
design, functional performance, historical developmen t, test results and usage, such as program design
instructions, flowcharts, and user’s manuals;
(3) “software developer” shall mean a legal entity or other body that actually organizes, or directly
carries out, the development of a piece of software and assumes responsibility for the accomplished
software, or a natural person who independently carries out, relying on his own facilities, the
development of a piece of software and assumes responsibility for the accomplished software;
(4) “software copyright owner” shall mean a natural person, legal entity or other body that enjoys
software copyright in accordance with these Regulations.
Article 4.  The software protected under these Regulations must be developed independently and fixed
in some material form.
Article 5.  Chinese citizens, legal entities or other bodies shall enjoy, in accordance with these
Regulations, copyright in respect of software which they have developed, whether published or not.
Software of foreigners or stateless persons first published on the territory of the People’s Republic of
China shall enjoy copyright in accordance with these Regulations.
Software copyright of a foreigner or stateless person which he enjoys under an agreement concluded
between China and the country to which its developer belongs or in which its developer has hishabitual residence, or, under an international treaty to which China is a party, shall be protected in
accordance with these Regulations.
Article 6.  The protection of software copyright under these Regulations shall not extend to the ideas,
processing, operating methods, mathematical concepts or the like used in software development.
Article 7.  A software copyright owner may comply with registration to the software registry
recognized by the copyright administration department under the State Council. A registration
certificate issued by the software registry is a preliminary proof for the registered items to be true.IP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 3
Fees shall be paid to the software registry for compliance with software registration. The payment
tariffs for software registration shall be established by the copyright administration department under
the State Council in collaboration with the department responsible for price under the State Council.
Chapter II
Software Copyright
Article 8.  A software copyright owner shall enjoy the following rights:
(1) the right of publication, that is, the right to d ecide whether to make the software available to the
public;
(2) the right of developer-ship, that is, the right to  claim developer-ship and to have the developer’s
name mentioned in connection with the software;(3) the right of alteration, that is, the right to supplement or abridge the software, or to change the
sequence of instructions or statements;
(4) the right of reproduction, that is, the right to produce one or more copies of the software;
(5) the right of distribution, that is, the right to provide the original copy or reproductions of the
software to the public by selling or donating;(6) the right of rental, that is, the right to authorize others to use temporarily and onerously the
original copy or reproductions of the software, except where the software itself is not the essential
object of the rental;
(7) the right of communication through information network, that is, the right to make the software
available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the software from a placeand at a time individually chosen by them;
(8) the right of translation, that is, the right to converse the natural language of the software into
another natural language; and
(9) other rights which shall be enjoyed by software copyright owners.
A software copyright owner may authorize another person’s exercising his copyright and receive
remuneration therefor.
A software copyright owner may transfer, wholly or  in part, his copyright and receive remuneration
therefor.
Article 9.  Except where otherwise provided in these Regulations, the copyright in a piece of software
shall belong to its developer.
The natural person, legal entity or other body whose name is mentioned in connection with a piece of
software shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to be its developer.
Article 10.  Where a piece of software is developed jointly by two or more natural persons, legal
entities or other bodies, the ownership of its copyright shall be agreed upon in a written contract
between the co-developers. In the absence of a written contract or an explicit agreement in the
contract, each co-developer shall be entitled to independent copyright in the part which he has
developed if the joint software can be separated into independent parts and exploited separately,provided that the exercise of such copyright does not extend to the copyright in the joint software as a
whole. If the joint software cannot be separated into independent parts and exploited separately, its
copyright shall be enjoyed jointly by those co-developers and exercised by agreement. In the absence
of such an agreement, any co-developer shall not prevent, without reasonable ground, the other(s)
from exercising the copyright except the right of transfer; however, the profit received for exploitingthe joint software shall be reasonably shared between all the co-developers.
Article 11.  Where a piece of software is developed on commission, the ownership of its copyright
shall be agreed upon in a written contract between the commissioning and the commissioned parties.IP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 4
In the absence of a written contract or an explicit agreement in the contract, the copyright shall be
enjoyed by the commissioned party.
Article 12.  Where a piece of software is developed in the course of fulfilling a task assigned by a state
organ, the ownership and exercise of its copyright shall be stipulated in a letter of project assignmentor a contract. In the absence of an explicit stipulation in the letter of project assignment or the
contract, the copyright shall be enjoyed by the legal entity or other body that has fulfilled the task.
Article 13.  In any of the following cases the copyright in a piece of software developed by a natural
person during his employment by a legal entity or other body shall be enjoyed by the latter, which
may reward the natural person for having developed the software:
(1) the software is developed in connection with the development objective explicitly designated in
the duty of the natural person;
(2) the software is a foreseeable or ordinary result of fulfilling his duty by the natural person; or
(3) the software is developed mainly with the material and technical resources of the legal entity or
other body, such as funds, special facilities or unpublished special information, and under its
responsibility.
Article 14.  The copyright in a piece of software shall exist from the date on which its development
has been completed.
In the case of software copyright enjoyed by a natural person, the term of protection shall be the
lifetime of such person and fifty years after his death, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year
after his death. Where a piece of software is developed jointly, the term of protection shall expire on
December 31 of fiftieth year after the death of the last surviving developer.
In the case of software copyright enjoyed by a legal entity or other body, the term of protection shall
be fifty years, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the first publication of such software;
however, if any such software has not been published within fifty years from the date on which its
development has been completed, it shall be no longer protected under these Regulations.
Article 15. Where software copyright belongs to a natural person, the rights covered in Article 8 of
these Regulations except the right of developer-ship  shall, after his death, be transferred, during the
term of protection provided for in these Regulations, to his inheritor(s) in accordance with theInheritance Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Where software copyright belongs to a legal entity or other body, the copyright shall, after the change
or the termination of the status of the legal entity or other body, be enjoyed, during the term of
protection provided for in these Regulations, by the succeeding legal entity or other body that hastaken over the former’s rights and obligations, or, in the absence of such successor body, by the State.
Article 16.  Owners of lawful copies of a piece of software shall have the following privileges:
(1) to install and store the software in devices with information processing capabilities, such as
computers, according to the need of their use;(2) to make backup copies against damage, provided that such owners do not offer others in any way
the backup copies for their use and that they destroy such copies once they lose the ownership thereof;
and
(3) to make necessary alterations to the software in  order to implement it in an actual environment of
computer application or to improve its functions or performance, provided that such owners do not,except otherwise agreed in the contract, offer any third party the altered software without permission
from the software copyright owner.IP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 5
Article 17.  A piece of software may be used by its installing, displaying, transmitting or storing for
the purposes of studying or researching the design ideas or principles embodied therein, without
permission from, and without payment of remuneration to, the software copyright owner.
Chapter III
Software Copyright Licensing and Transfer
Article 18.  In the case of a license to exercise software copyright, the parties shall conclude a
licensing contract.
The licensee shall not exercise any right that the software copyright owner has not expressly granted
in the contract.
Article 19.  In the case of an exclusive license to exercise software copyright, the parties shall
conclude a written contract.
In the absence of a written contract or an explicit agreement upon exclusive license in the contract, the
right that the licensee is authorized to exercise shall be deemed as a non-exclusive right.
Article 20. In the case of a transfer of software copyright, the parties shall conclude a written
contract.
Article 21.  Anyone that concludes an exclusive licensing contract or a transfer contract may comply
with registration to the software registry recogniz ed by the copyright administration department under
the State Council.
Article 22.  A Chinese citizen, legal entity or other body that authorizes a foreigner’s exercising
software copyright, or transfers it to a foreigner,  shall comply with the Regulations of the People’s
Republic of China on Control over Import and Export of Technologies.
Chapter IV
Legal Liabilities
Article 23.  Except where otherwise provided in the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China
or these Regulations, anyone who commits any of the following acts of infringement shall bear civil
liabilities, such remedies as ceasing the infringing  act, eliminating the effects of the act, making an
apology, or paying compensation for damages, depending on the circumstances:
(1) to publish, or comply with registration in respect of, a piece of software without the consent of the
software copyright owner;(2) to publish, or comply with registration in respect of, a piece of software developed by another
person as ones own;
(3) to publish, or comply with registration in respect of, a piece of joint software as developed solely
by oneself, without the consent of the other co-developers;
(4) to have ones name mentioned in connection with, or alter the name on, a piece of softwaredeveloped by another person;
(5) to alter or translate a piece of software without the consent of the software copyright owner; or
(6) to commit other acts of infringing software copyright.
Article 24.  Except where otherwise provided in the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China,
these Regulations, or other laws or administrative regulations, anyone who commits any of the
following acts of infringement shall bear civil liabi lities, such remedies as ceasing the infringing act,
eliminating the effects of the act, making an apology, or paying compensation for damages, depending
on the circumstances; where the act also prejudices the larger public interest, the copyrightIP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 6
administration department may order the infringing act to be ceased, confiscate unlawful income,
confiscate or destroy the infringing copies, and impose a fine; where the circumstance is serious, the
above-mentioned department may also confiscate the material, tools and instrument mainly used to
produce infringing copes; and where the act violates the Criminal Law, the person that commits the
act shall be investigated criminal liabilities in a ccordance with the provisions in the Criminal Law on
the crime of violating copyright or selling infringing copies:
(1) to reproduce, wholly or in part, a piece of software of the copyright owner;
(2) to distribute, rent or communicate to the public  through information network a piece of software of
the copyright owner;
(3) to knowingly circumvent or sabotage technolo gical measures used by yhe copyright owner for
protecting the software copyright;
(4) to knowingly remove or alter any electronic ri ghts management information attached to a copy of
a piece of software; or
(5) to transfer, or authorize another person to exercise, the software copyright of the owner.
In respect of the act referred to in item (1) or (2) of the preceding paragraph, the copyright
administration department may also imposes a fine  calculated on 100 yuan in RMB per copy or not
more than 5 times of the total value of goods; and, in  respect of the act referred to in item (3), (4) or
(5) of the preceding paragraph, the above-mentioned department may also imposes a fine not more
than 50,000 yuan in RMB.
Article 25.  The amount of the compensation paid for infringing software copyright shall be
determined in accordance with Article 48 of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Article 26.  A software copyright owner that can present evidence to prove that another person is
committing, or is about to commit, an infringement which, if not being prevented promptly, is likely
to cause irreparable harm to him, may, before instituting proceedings, apply to a people’s court, inaccordance with Article 49 of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China, for an order of
desisting the relevant act and for measures of property preservation.
Article 27.  In order to prevent infringement, a software copyright owner may, before instituting
proceedings, apply to a people’s court, in accordance with Article 50 of the Copyright Law of the
People’s Republic of China, for evidence preservation where the evidence is likely to be missing, or
to be difficult to obtain later.
Article 28.  A publisher or producer of copies of a piece of software that fails to prove the legal
permission for the publication or production, or, a distri butor or renter of copies of a piece of software
that fails to prove the legal source of the copies which he distribute or rent, shall bear legal liabilities.
Article 29.  The development of a piece of software which is similar to a pre-existing one owing to a
limit of alternative expressions does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the pre-existing
one.
Article 30.  A holder of copies of a piece of software that neither knows nor has reasonable grounds to
know that such copies are infringing ones does not bear liability of paying compensation but shall
cease the use of, and destroy, the infringing copies. Nevertheless, if the cease of use or the destruction
of such copies is likely to cause material damages to him, the holder of such copies may, having paid
reasonable remuneration to the copyright owner, continue to use such copies.IP/N/1/CHN/C/2
Page 7
Article 31.  A dispute over software copyright infringement may be settled by mediation.
A dispute over software copyright contract may be submitted to an arbitration organ for arbitration
under an arbitration clause in the copyright contract or under a written arbitration agreed upon later
between the parties.
Any party may institute proceedings directly in a people’s court in the absence of an arbitration clause
in the contract or of a written arbitration agreed upon later between the parties.
Chapter V
Supplementary provisions
Article 32.  Any act of infringing software copyright co mmitted prior to the entry into force of these
Regulations shall be dealt with under the relevant national regulations in force at the time when the
act was committed.
Article 33.  These Regulations shall entry into force on January 1, 2002. The Regulations on
Computer Software Protection issued by the State Council on June 4, 1991 shall be void in the
meantime.
__________