On 15 Nov. 2020, the National Copyright Administration issued the Circular on Further Improving the Examination and Identification of Evidence for Administrative Enforcement of Copyright Law (关于进一步做好著作权行政执法证据审查和认定工作的通知), which clarified the examination and identification of evidence for copyright administrative law enforcement from three aspects, namely proof of rights, evidence of infringement, and determination of infringement.
(1) In terms of proof of rights, where the complainant makes a copyright infringement complaint, the administrative department in the enforcement of copyright shall require the complainant to provide evidence of the alleged copyright or copyright-related rights. If there is no evidence to the contrary, the administrative department in the enforcement of copyright shall presume the author, publisher, performer or producer of sound recordings signed in the usual manner as the copyright holder of the work, performance or sound recording or the right holder of the copyright-related rights.
(2) In terms of evidence of infringement, infringing works, performances or sound recordings and purchase records; accounts, contracts and processing and production documents involving infringement; screenshots of photos, videos or web pages proving the infringement; the materials proving that the publishers, distributors forge or alter the authorization documents or the acts of the publishers, distributors are beyond the scope of authorization; and other materials that can prove infringement can be used as evidence to prove that the work, performance or sound recording has been allegedly infringed.
(3) In terms of the determination of infringement, where the publisher or producer of reproductions is unable to prove the lawful authorization of his/her publication or production, or the distributor of reproductions is unable to prove the lawful source of the reproductions he/she distributes, the administrative department in the enforcement of copyright shall determine that such act constitutes infringement.
For more about China's intellectual property law, please click here.
For more about China's evidence rule, please click here.
Contributors: Yanru Chen 陈彦茹
