The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the long-awaited amended PRC Copyright Law on November 11, 2020, which became effective on June 1, 2021. In tandem with the effective date of the amended PRC Copyright Law, the People’s Courts and the National Copyright Administration recently held some press releases, announcing model cases involving internet disputes and copyright protection. Some of the important announcements include the following:
- On May 31, 2021, the Supreme People’s Court announced ten internet model cases (http://www.court.gov.cn/zixun-xiangqing-306541.html). Specifically, the People’s Courts, in Case #2 and Case #3, accepted electronic evidence that was obtained through novel technology such as blockchain and timestamp.
- On June 1, 2021, the Guangzhou Internet Court held a press conference, issued a summary of cases related to internet content platforms handled since the establishment of the Court, and released ten model cases for internet content platforms (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XVa2RHQNlWkuywhGtogqfw; https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7D-IzAhMchhGg17VPQtNTA);
- On June 1, 2021, the Beijing Internet Court held a press conference and announced ten model cases involving social media platforms (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VnnF52zyCl2PAWAoHQfuFw);
- On June 1, 2021, the Hangzhou Internet Court held a press conference focused on trends in the handling of e-commerce cases, and released ten model cases involving e-commerce platforms (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xk9p8mGunC4RNfDzqrVt7w);
- On June 1, 2021, the National Copyright Administration released a list of the top ten national anti-infringement and piracy cases for 2020 during the 2021 China Internet Copyright Protection and Development Conference (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qidzFUavDv7TYFs-3FkycQ; https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/boKSGeuKe9zLS_S9f5fnBQ); and
- On June 2, 2021, the Sichuan Higher People’s Court held a press conference and issued a white paper regarding copyright judicial protection in Sichuan over the last three years, and released ten model cases (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cZMkYRZ8UNUsuibfunmflw; https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4Akb1ytmspH9VHbiOfNwqQ).