An important project for China’s publishing industry was recently launched, the “Chinese Character Bank”. This database will include many traditional Chinese characters for the first time, thus meeting the needs of expression, transmission and storage on computers. The project is already in R&D and will be finished in five years. Experts state that the scope [...]
Archive for the ‘regulations’ category
“Chinese Character Bank” project launched
08/09/2011Hot issues in China on copyright on the Internet
29/08/2011The 2011 Media Seminar on Hot Copyright Issues was held in Beijing on August 19-20, hosted by the National Copyright Administration. Some of the hot topics discussed are listed below. [Note: I'm no legal expert, so as always: use at your own risk.] Can network media reproduce the reports of paper media arbitrarily? Network media [...]
“Urgent Notice” on publishing and distribution of teaching materials issued by China’s GAPP
22/08/2011Focusing on the excessive number and low quality of primary and secondary school supplementary teaching materials, GAPP released the “Notice on Further Enhancing the Management of Primary and Secondary School Supplementary Teaching Publications” on August 17th. One day later, an “Urgent Notice” on supervision and implementation was given to localities and departments concerned, setting a [...]
Educational book publishing in China to be better regulated
18/08/2011Focusing on the disorderly market for supplementary teaching material in education, Liu Binjie indicated during the recent 2011 National Press and Publication Bureau Secretary Forum that GAPP will make efforts to solve the problem this year with the upcoming “Notice on Further Enhancing the Management of Primary and Secondary School Supplementary Teaching Publications”. Furthermore, GAPP [...]
New regulations on ownership reform for China’s non-political newspapers
12/08/2011Recently, the “Basic Regulations for the Conversion of Non-political Newspapers of Central Department Publishing Units” were released by the Joint Office for Reforming Non-Political Newspaper Publishing Units to steer the reform program. These Regulations are applicable only for publishing units with the status of an independent legal entity. They provide guidance in eight steps: Establish [...]
GAPP to support physical bookstores in China
02/08/2011Recently, GAPP provided answers on the hot topic of how to support the development of physical bookstores. Will all physical bookstores that experience difficulty with management receive support? Liu Binjie, Director of GAPP, said that GAPP will take the following policy measures to support special and academic bookstores. Implement the “Notice on Strengthening the Rural [...]
Digital publishing standards to be issued in China before the end of 2011
26/07/2011A standards system for the digital publishing industry will be released officially before the end of this year, with thirteen enterprises such as China Online, Baidu, China Mobile, Hanvon and Founder taking part in the formulation of the detailed classification standards for e-books, mobile publishing, audio publications etc. There is no doubt that these enterprises [...]
Educational publishing in China: Supplementary newspapers and periodicals to be brought into line
14/07/2011Currently, there are over 140 kinds of supplementary educational newspapers and periodicals published in China, with some ignoring laws and regulations. Major problems include: one license number is used for multiple publications, with many supplementary educational newspapers offering more than ten different versions, some even more than one hundred, low-price, low-quality publications hurt education as [...]
Digital publishing business opportunities for Taiwan on Mainland (China)
17/06/2011According to the Cross-Strait Press and Publication Industry Development Forum, the digital publishing consumer market increasingly matured during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, with the gross output of digital publishing exceededing 100 billion RMB in 2010. 2011 is the first year of implementation of the ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) for both sides of the [...]
People’s Daily: seven countermeasures against paid publishing of academic papers in China
16/06/2011In recent years, the problems of an unsound system and unscientific standards and methods for the evaluation of academic papers in China’s academic circles have caused widespread public concern. To eliminate the paid-publishing phenomenon, a more scientific academic evaluation mechanism should be established: Comprehensive treatment of the “paper economy”, such as an internet management department [...]
5% of Beijing’s periodicals and newspapers did not pass inspection
07/06/2011According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication, this year 3,005 news and periodicals will have to pass the Annual Inspection of Newspaper and Periodical Publishing Houses. With roughly 200 publications not yet inspected, 2732 passed while 20 newspapers and 118 periodicals are still “in suspension” because of exceeding their scope of business, [...]
Bad journalistic behavior in China’s news industry to lead to job ban
01/06/2011The Recording Method for Bad Working Behavior in the News Industry was formally promulgated and implemented on May 17th. The regulation defines nine kinds of behavior such as providing false or forged documents to acquire a press card, writing fake news, being engaged in payoff-aimed journalism activities, etc., which will be put on record. Journalists [...]
10 measures for China’s publishing distribution industry in the next five years
24/05/2011[Note: This list was published in Jiefang Daily without mention of any specific event.] Deepen the distribution system reform to develop profitable enterprises, focusing on the introduction of strategic investors, listing & financing, M&A etc. Integrate logistics resources to improve operational efficiency, focusing on the cross-regional cooperation of logistics systems, the establishment of logistics centers [...]
“Guiding Opinions on Copyright Asset Evaluation” to be implemented in July (China)
12/05/2011In order to promote the creative industry’s development, China’s first “Guiding Opinions on Copyright Asset Evaluation” will be implemented beginning in July. The “Opinions” will regulate the principles and standards of copyright asset evaluation from the angle of definitions, requirements, objects, operation and disclosure, so as to solve the difficulties in evaluating copyright assets. Liu [...]
China’s Development Plan for the Press and Publication Industry: background and trends
28/04/2011Fan Weiping, head of the Publishing Industry Development Division and responsible for drafting the 12th Five-Year Development Plan, provided background information on the plan. The 12th Five-Year Development Plan is based on the press & publication industry’s achievements during the 11th five-year period. The Outline of the 12th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, [...]
Key tasks of China’s Five-Year Plan for Copyright Work
28/04/2011According to the 12th Five-Year Plan for Copyright Work released by the China National Copyright Administration on April 20th, five key tasks were confirmed: To strengthen copyright service function, completing public service and social participation system. To encourage copyright creation, promoting the copyright-related industries’ healthy development. To complete propaganda and training systems, improving copyright protection [...]
First iPad-related copyright case goes to court in China
28/04/2011For using the content of Beijing News without authorization, the developers of the “Chinese Newspapers & Periodicals” iPad application were sued for compensation of 600,000 RMB. The defendant claims that they only integrate publicly available content for users’ free reading and the application is still for trial use, not for commercial operation. Zhang Hongbo, deputy [...]
Shanghai issued digital publishing industry policies (China)
27/04/2011The “Opinions on Digital Publishing Industry’s Development in Shanghai” were issued by Shanghai municipality, representing China’s first province-level government document supporting the digital publishing industry. With the main idea of making full use of existing resources, the document includes 28 clauses to improve the industry’s development in Shanghai in macro policy, finance, government procurement, preferential [...]
GAPP is working on Unsatisfactory Publication Recall Measures (China)
22/04/2011According to GAPP’s “Notice on Carrying out Children’s Books Publishing Quality Supervision and Inspection” from March 15th, 2011, children’s books will be tested on printing, copying, editing and environmental protection, and unsatisfactory publications will be removed from the market. As a long-term quality control system, “Unsatisfactory Publication Recall Measures” are being developed by GAPP. Source: [...]
GAPP’s research guidelines for 2011 released (China)
19/04/2011The General Administration of Print and Publications published its Research Guidelines for this year. Study projects are as follows: Reform issues in the news and publishing industry -Obvious problems in the system reform of non-political press units -Solutions for distribution systems of Party newspapers -Models on guiding and regulating non-public capital to join the news [...]
New regulations on online bookstores in China
18/04/2011On April 12th, GAPP published three newly revised regulations: “Publications Market Management Regulations”, “Measures for the Administration of Subscriber Orders for Imported Publications”, and “Administration of Import of Audio and Video Products”. Regarding new clauses on online bookstores, a GAPP Policy and Law Department official said that the approval criteria for online bookstores are adjusted [...]
“China Copyright Yearbook 2010″ published
12/04/2011Compiled by the National Copyright Administration, edited and published by China Renmin University Press and China Renmin University Copyright Trade Base, this only official yearbook provides comprehensive information on China’s copyright creation, utilization, protection and management. Source: “China Copyright Yearbook 2010″ published (in Chinese) Note: Apparently hasn’t made it into the online bookstores yet.
China to encourage foreign investment on manufacturing digital printing machines
11/04/2011The Foreign Investment Industry Guideline (5th Revised Draft) was published on the website of the China State Council Legislative Affairs Office for soliciting opinions from the general public . The draft consists of the three categories of “encouraged”, “restricted” and “prohibited” investments, with foreign investment in manufacturing of production-oriented high-speed digital printing machines included in [...]
GAPP issued “Opinion on Further Improving the Work of Chief Editors of Publishing Houses” (China)
04/04/2011Recently, GAPP issued the “Opinion on Further Improving the Work of Chief Editors of Publishing Houses“, putting forward specific requirements concerning the position, qualification and responsibilities of a Chief Editor for restructured publishing enterprises. Position: All publishing units should establish the post of Chief Editor as the second responsible person (after the Director), as well [...]
GAPP and Commerce Department approve “Regulations on Management of the Publication Market” (China)
04/04/2011In order to regulate the distribution activities of publications as well as the related supervision and management, the General Administration of Press and Publication and the Commerce Department approved the “Regulations on Management of the Publication Market” on March 17 and announced it on March 25. The “Regulations” consists of five chapters with 45 items, [...]
China clarifies rules on Internet distribution of publications
04/04/2011In the article “China clarifies rules on Internet distribution of publications“, China Daily briefly reports on new regulations issued by GAPP: “Agencies or individuals in China are required to have a license to distribute publications through information networks including the Internet” and are forbidden to distribute publications that infringe upon others’ copyrights. If they already [...]
Tax reduction for brick-and-mortar bookstores in China?
31/03/2011The physical bookstore’s alarming survival condition is a topic that has concerned China’s book industry for a long time. The Business Tax Rate for bookstores in China is 13%, besides that, operators of a bookstore still need to pay Value-Added Tax, Urban Maintenance and Construction Tax, Enterprise Income Tax, Building Tax, Stamp Tax, etc., which [...]
China’s State Council announces revised “Publishing Management Regulations” (China)
22/03/2011The new revised “Publishing Management Regulations” and “Audio-video Products Management Regulations” were announced on March 19. The former consists of 9 chapters with 74 items, among many adminstrative items, others emphasize that: The publishing activities should serve the people and socialism in order to promote the establishment of physical civilization and spiritual culture. Social benefits [...]
GAPP repeals 5th batch of press and publishing regulations (China)
21/03/2011To improve the legal establishment of the news publishing industry, GAPP decided to repeal a 5th batch of altogether 161 regulatory files – such as “Notice on Journal Registration Issues”, “Notice on Reform Work in the Book Distribution System “ – in a clean-up move. Some of the documents date back to the mid-fifties. The [...]
Baidu’s troubles: Lawsuits on copyright piracy and search monopoly (China)
21/03/2011In addition to the fifty authors accusing Baidu of participating in copyright violations in an open letter, the complaints against Baidu come from various sides: China Writers Association The association’s vice president Zhang Kangkang pointed out in the “two sessions” that the digital publishing industry is facing a problem with copyright authorization for mass-market works. [...]
Copyright in China: 6 major developments during the 11th Five-year Plan
16/03/2011[Note: This summary hibernated in the draft folder for two months because I wanted to search for more current WIPO data for #3 and then forgot all about it - well, now 2006 will have to do. Although this article is not brand-new anymore, it helps in describing the situation of copyright protection in China [...]
New rules to fight online piracy in China
16/03/2011As China Daily reports in “New Rules to Fight Online Pirates“, new regulations governing cross-regional investigation and collection of evidence in online piracy and counterfeits will be released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). According to SAIC Vice Minister Fu Shuangjian, a final draft is now being prepared. The article provides further [...]
News on securities information in China’s print media to be better controlled
14/03/2011On February 25th, GAPP held a meeting to require the newspaper industry to enhance its management of securities information communication. Wang Guoqing, Director of GAPP’s Press Department, indicated that false news about securities and futures has begun to spread to the authoritative traditional media from the Internet. This problem is caused by information asymmetry in [...]
Liu Binjie (GAPP) on anti-corruption drive and main problems in news and publishing (China)
07/03/2011Ahead of the National People’s Congress, GAPP’s Director Liu Binjie gave a policy speech at the end of February, stating that putting people first and promoting the Party’s clean and honest administration are very important for the development of the news and publishing industry. Apart from general statements concerning the Party’s anti-corruption work – such [...]
China’s publishing industry in the post-system-reform age: opinions and comments
03/03/2011[Note: As often, a list of opinions expressed by industry professionals provides better insights into what might become official policy than GAPP policy speeches (see previous post Policy speech on system reform of China’s news publishing industry during 12th Five-year plan). They also throw a spotlight on current and foreseen problems. The article's title "How [...]
Experts and scholars suggest revising the Copyright Law in China
28/02/2011China’s current Copyright Law was implemented on June 1st, 1991, and partially revised twice for resolving WTO disputes in October, 2001 and April, 2010. On February 24th, experts and scholars of China’s content industries (literature, music, movie, software, etc.) attended a forum, issuing an appeal for revising the Copyright Law in order to protect legitimate [...]
Legal defects of the Copyright Law: property rights do not include publishing rights (China)
25/02/2011[Note: I opted to use "mortgage" as a translation of "质权 zhiquan" instead of "pledge" in order to make the intention of the publishing rights owner clearer, however, I'm no legal expert so I might ignore subtle but important legal differences between these terms. Any clarification is welcome.] Recently, some publishing companies intended to mortgage [...]
Publication of academic papers to be better regulated to ensure quality (China)
25/02/2011Due to the current situation of academic journals, GAPP held a meeting in Beijing on February 23rd to discuss how to better regulate the publishing of academic papers. Eight magazines breaking the regulations were punished for exceeding the publication’s approved volume and scope, with single issues containing up to two hundred papers. GAPP found that [...]
Six trends for China’s digital printing industry in 2011
24/02/2011Based on interviews with industry insiders, China Press and Publication Journal summarized six trends for the future development of China’s digital printing industry in 2011: Printing enterprises for teaching materials will be the first to accquire “green printing certification“. National- and provincial-level printing demonstration bases will be established. A large number of digital printing enterprises [...]
Revised version of “Regulations on the Administration of Publications” covers online publishing (China)
22/02/2011The revised version of “Regulations on the Administration of Publications” (draft) unifies the supervision for audio-video products, which will be conducted by GAPP. The new “Regulations” also add network publications to the existing management objects, thus attracting a lot of attention within the publishing industry. The focus is on the definition of network publications. According [...]
2011 China National Publishing Foundation Project Application Guide published
17/02/2011According to the Planning and Administration Office of the National Publishing Foundation, its 2011 Project Application Guide was published on February 15th. The application process has started, with March 31st being the deadline. The application guide and the application form can be downloaded on http://www.gapp.gov.cn/cms/cms/website/jjb/index.jsp?siteId=307 . Books are the main publications funded this year. Eight [...]
Liu Binjie (GAPP): 2011 is key period for reform of China’s Administrative Examination and Approval System
03/02/2011As GAPP’s director Liu Binjie pointed out in a speech [Note: before the Chinese New Year Holiday], the year 2011 constitutes the beginning of the 12th Five-year Plan as well as the key period of promoting the reform of China’s Administrative Examination and Approval system; important tasks in this year include: The administrative examination and [...]
China’s State Council seeks public opinion on revision of Publication Administration Regulations
27/01/2011In order to further enhance legislation openness and quality, China’s State Council decided to publish its full text on revising the “Publication Administration Regulations” (draft) and “Audio-Visual Product Administration Regulations” (draft) submitted by the General Administration of Press and Publication, seeking public opinion. Source: China’s State Council seeks public opinion on revising Publication Administration Regulations [...]
China’s Publishing Regulations now also apply to Internet publications
27/01/2011The Commission of Legislative Affairs of the State Council published a revised version of the “Publishing Management Regulations” on its website. In addition to newspapers, magazines, books, audio-video products and e-publications, the new version added network publications as being covered by the regulation. Some related regulations were also modified. Source: China to add network publications [...]
Digital Printing Management Regulations come into effect on February 1 (China)
26/01/2011The “Digital Printing Management Regulations” were issued by General Administration of Press and Publication recently and will take effect on February 1st, 2011. According to the document, the minimum standards for a digital printing enterprise are actually lowered, which are as follows: – one million RMB registered capital, – fixed business places occupying more than [...]
New regulations for handling criminal cases on IPR infringement (China)
17/01/2011Recently, the “Opinions on Applicable Laws for Handling Criminal Cases Infringing on Intellectual Property” were published, clarifying problems of intellectual property infringement. For network infringement, the standards of punishment fitting the crime are more definite and practical. The affirmation of profit-oriented copyright infringement is more detailed. The identification of “unlicensed by copyright owners” is clearer. [...]
GAPP and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) release new regulations on securities and futures information
10/01/2011Recently, GAPP and CSRC have released the “Regulations on Enhancing the Management of Information Communication on Securities and Futures” which clarifies the duties of publishing institutions, news editors, supervision departments of securities and futures as well as administrative departments of news publishing. Publishing institutions need to check the qualifications of contributors and related agencies to [...]
Improving mediation of copyright disputes in China
07/01/2011With the increase of intellectual property disputes, the related mediation mechanisms become more and more important. Currently, there are three major channels for the mediation of copyright disputes in China: court mediation, administrative mediation and social mediation. According to the current situations of copyright disputes in our country, some measures should be taken: Establishing a [...]
