Section 1 Copyright Owners and Their Rights
Article 9  “Copyright owners" shall include:
(1) authors;
(2) other natural persons, legal entities and unincorporated organizations enjoying copyright in accordance with this Law.
 

Article 10  “Copyright" shall include the following personal rights and property rights:
(1) the right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether to make a work available to the public;
(2) the right of authorship, that is, the right to claim authorship and to have the author's name mentioned in connection with the work;
(3) the right of alteration, that is, the right to alter or authorize others to alter one's work;
(4) the right of integrity, that is, the right to protect one's work against distortion and mutilation;
(5) the right of reproduction, that is, the right to produce one or more copies of the work. by means of printing, Xeroxing, rubbing, sound recording, video recording，duplicating, re: shooting，or digital way etc;
(6) the right of distribution, that is, the right to provide the public with original copies or reproduced copies of works by means of selling or donating;
(7) the right of lease, that is, the right to non-gratuitously permit others to temporarily use the original or copy of audiovisual works and computer software, unless the computer software is not the main object of lease;
(8) the right of exhibition, that is, the right to publicly display the original copies or reproduced copies of works of fine art and cinematographic works;
(9) the right of performance, that is, the right to publicly. perform works, and to publicly transmit the performance of works by various means;
(10) the right of projection, that is, the right to make, by such technical equipment as projector, episcope, etc, the works of fine art, photographic works, audiovisual works, etc. reappear publicly;
(11) the right of broadcasting, that is, the right to publicly broadcast or disseminate works by wired or wireless means, and to disseminate broadcast works to the public by audio amplifier or other similar
instruments for transmission of signs, sounds or images, excluding the right as prescribed in item (12) of this paragraph;
(12) the right of dissemination via information networks, that is, the right to provide works that may be obtained by the public at the time and place selected by the public by wired or wireless means;
(13) the right of production, that is, the right to fix works on the carrier audiovisual works;
(14) the right of adaptation, that is, the right to modify a work for the purpose of creating a new work of original creation;
(15) the right of translation, that is, the right to transform the language of a work into another language;
(16) the right of compilation, that is, the right to choose or edit some works or fragments of works so as to form a new work;
(17) other rights which shall be enjoyed by the copyright owners.
A copyright owner may permit others to exercise the rights provided in items (5) through (17) of the preceding paragraph, and may receive remuneration as agreed upon in the contract or in accordance with the relevant provisions in this Law.
A copyright owner may wholly or partially transfer the rights provided in items (5) through (17) of Paragraph 1 of this Article, and may receive remuneration as agreed upon in the contract or in accordance with the relevant provisions in this Law.
 

Section 2  Ownership of Copyright
Article 11  Except otherwise provided in this Law, the copyright in a work shall belong to its author.
The author of a work is the natural person who has created the work.
Where a work is created according to the intention and under the supervision and responsibility of a legal entity or another unincorporated organization, such legal entity. or unincorporated organization shall be the author of the work.
 

Article 12  The national person, legal person or unincorporated organization whose name is affixed to a work shall, without contrary proof, be the author of the work and have corresponding rights in the work.
Authors and other copyright owners may register their works with a registry recognized by the copyright authority of the state.
The copyright-related rights shall be governed,mutatis mutandis, by the provisions of the preceding Two paragraphs.
 

Article 13  Where a work is created by adaptation, translation, annotation or arrangement of a pre-existing work, the copyright in the work thus created shall be enjoyed by the adapter, translator,
annotator or arranger, provided that the copyright in the original work is not infringed upon.
 

Article 14  Where a work is created jointly by two or more co-authors, the copyright in the work shall be enjoyed jointly by those co-authors. Co-authorship may not be claimed by anyone who has not participated in the creation of the work.
The copyright of a cooperative work shall be exercised. by co-authors upon consensus; and where no consensus has been reached and there is no justified reason, no party shall prevent Another party from exercising rights other than transferring and permitting others' exclusive use, and. pledging, but the proceeds obtained shall be reasonably distributed to all co-authors.
If a work of joint authorship can be separated into' independent parts and exploited separately, each 
co-author shall be entitled to independent copyright in the parts that he has created, provided that the exercise of such copyright does not infringe upon the copyright in the joint work as a whole.
 

Article 15  A work created by compilation shall refer to the work which is compiled of some works, fragments of works or the data or other materials not constituting a work, and the choice or layout of the contents of which embodies the original creation. The copyright of the compilation work shall be. enjoyed by the compiler, provided that the exercise of such copyright does. not infringe. upon the copyright of the pre-existing works included in the compilation.
 

Article 16  To use a work produced by adaptation, translation, annotation, sorting, or compilation of an existing work for publication， performance, and production of an audiovisual work, the permission of the copyright owner of the work and the copyright owner of the original work shall be obtained and remunerations shall be paid to the copyright owners.
 

Article 17  The copyright of cinematographic works and TV play works in audiovisual, works shall be
enjoyed by producers, but screenwriters, directors, photographers, lyricists, composers, and other authors shall enjoy the right of signature and have the right to obtain remunerations as agreed upon in the contracts signed with producers.
The ownership of the copyright of an audiovisual work other than those specified in the preceding paragraph shall be agreed upon by the parties; and where there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear, the copyright shall be. enjoyed by the producer, but the author shall have the right of signature and receive remunerations.
The authors of script, music, and other works that may be used separately shall have the right to separately exercise their right of copyright.
 

Article 18  A work created by a natural person when fulfilling the tasks assigned to him by a legal entity or another unincorporated organization shall be deemed to be a service work. Unless otherwise provided in Paragraph 2 of this Article, the copyright of such a work shall be enjoyed by the author, but the legal entity or unincorporated organization shall have a priority right to exploit the work within the scope of its professional activities. During the two years after the completion of the work, the author shall not, without the consent of the legal entity or organization, authorize a third party to exploit the work in the same way as the legal entity or organization does.
In the following cases the author of a service work shall enjoy the right of authorship, while the legal entity or unincorporated organization shall enjoy other rights included in the copyright and may reward the author:
(1) drawings of engineering designs and product designs, sketch maps, computer software and other service works, which are created mainly with the materials and technical resources of the legal entity or unincorporated organization and under its responsibility;
(2) works for hire created by employees of newspapers, periodical presses, news agencies, radio stations, and television stations;
(3) service works of which the copyright is，in accordance with the laws or administrative regulations or as agreed upon in the contract, enjoyed by the legal entity or unincorporated organization.
 

Article 19  The ownership of copyright in a commissioned work shall be agreed upon in a contract between the commissioning and the commissioned parties. In the absence of such a contract or of an explicit agreement in the contract, the copyright in such a work shall belong to the commissioned party.
 

Article 20  The transfer of the ownership of an original work shall not change the ownership of the copyright of the work, but the exhibition rights of an original art work and photography. work shall be
enjoyed by the owner of the original work.
Where an author transfers the ownership of an original unpublished art work or photographic work to another, the transferee's exhibition of the original does not constitute an infringement upon the author's right of publication.
 

Article 21  Where the copyright of a work belongs to a natural person, his rights in respect of the work as provided in items (5) through (17) of Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law shall, after his death, during the term of protection provided in this Law, be transferred in accordance with the law.
Where the copyright of a work belongs to a legal entity or another unincorporated organization, its rights in respect of the work as provided in items (5) through (17) of Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law shall, after the change or the termination of the status of the legal entity or unincorporated organization, during the term of protection provided in this Law, be enjoyed by the succeeding legal entity or unincorporated organization which has taken over the rights and obligations of the previous Legal entity or unincorporated organization, or, in the absence of such succeeding legal entity or unincorporated organization, by the State.
 

Section 3 Term of Protection
Article 22  The rights of authorship, alteration and integrity of an author shall be unlimited in time.
 

Article 23  In respect of a work of a natural person, the term of protection of the right of publication and of the rights provided in items (5) through (17) of Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law shall be the lifetime of the author and fitly years after his death, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after his death. In the case of a work of joint authorship, such term shall expire on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the death of the last surviving author.
For a work of a legal person or an unincorporated organization, and a work for hire whose copyright (excluding right of signature) is owned by a legal person or an unincorporated organization, the protection period for its right of publication shall be 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the creation of the work; and the protection period, for its rights as prescribed from items (5) to (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 herein shall be 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, but if a work has not been published within 50 years after the completion of the creation, it shall no longer be protected by this Law.
For an audiovisual work, the protection period for its right of publication shall be 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the creation of the work; and the protection period for its rights as
prescribed from items (5) to (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 herein shall be 50 years, ending on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, but if a work has not been published within 50 years after the completion of the creation, it shall no longer be protected by this Law.

Section 4 Limitations on Rights
Article 24  In the following cases, a work may be exploited without the permission from, and without
Payment of remuneration to, the copyright owner, provided that the name or designation of the author and the title of the work are mentioned and the normal use of the work, or unreasonably damage the lawful rights and interests of the copyright owner shall not be affected:
(1) use of a published work for the purposes of the user's own private study, research or self- entertainment;
(2) appropriate quotation from a published work in one's own work for the purposes of introduction of, or comment on, a work, or demonstration of a point;
(3) inevitable reappearance or citation of a published work in newspapers, periodicals, radio stations，television stations or other media for the purpose of reporting news;
(4) reprinting by newspapers or periodicals or other media, or rebroadcasting by radio stations or television stations or other media, of the current event articles on the issues of politics, economy. and religion, which have been published by other newspapers, periodicals, radio stations or television stations or other media, except where the copyright owner has declared that publication or broadcasting is not permitted;
(5) publication in newspapers or periodicals or other media, or broadcasting by radio stations or television stations or other media, of a speech delivered at a public assembly, except where the author has declared that publication or broadcasting is not permitted;
(6) translation, adaptation, compilation, and broadcasting or reproduction, in a small quality of copies, of a published work for use by teachers or scientific researchers in classroom teaching or scientific research, provided that the translation or reproduction is not published or distributed;
(7) use of a published work by a State organ within the, reasonable scope for the purpose of fulfilling its official duties;
(8) reproduction of a work in its collections by a library, archive, memorial hall, museum, art gallery, art museum or similar institution, for the purpose of the display or preservation of a copy of the work;
(9) free of charge performance of a published work, that is, with respect to the performance, neither fees are charged from the public nor the remuneration is paid to the performers, nor the performance is for profit;
(10) copying, drawing, photographing, or video recording of an artistic work located or on display in a public place;
(11) translation of a work published by a Chinese citizen, legal entity or unincorporated organization, which is created in the national common language and characters, into a minority nationality language for publication and distribution within the country;
(12) providing published works for dyslexics in a barrier-free way through which they can perceive;
(13) other circumstances prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to restrictions on copyright-related rights.
 

Article 25  Those who compile and publish textbooks for the purpose of implementing compulsory education or educational planning of the state may, without permission of copyright owners, compile published fragments of works, short written works, musical works, or single art works, photographic works, or graphic works in the textbooks, however, they shall pay remunerations to copyright owners according to the provisions, and designate the names or designations of authors, and tiles of works, and shall not infringe upon other rights enjoyed by copyright owners in accordance with this Law.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to restrictions on copyright-related rights.