China-EU Seminar on Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment Held in Xi’an

On November 19, the Sino-European Seminar on Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment was held in Xi’an. The seminar was jointly organized by the National Copyright Administration of China and the EU Intellectual Property Office’s IP Key China project, and hosted by the Shaanxi Provincial Copyright Administration. Sun Daguang, member of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda, Wang Zhicheng, Director of the Copyright Administration Bureau of the National Copyright Administration of China, and Bai Jishan, Project Leader of the EU Intellectual Property Office’s IP Key China project, attended the seminar and delivered speeches. The seminar focused on discussing the topic of copyright protection in the digital environment, exchanging the latest measures and experiences of both China and Europe in adapting to digital technology development in copyright legislation and enforcement.
China has always been committed to strengthening international cooperation in copyright protection, actively promoting the improvement of international rules related to copyright, and maintaining and developing a multilateral cooperation system for copyright. Sino-European cooperation and exchange in copyright is one of the contents of multilateral cooperation. Sino-European intellectual property dialogues were initiated in 2004, and the Sino-European intellectual property dialogue mechanism was elevated to the ministerial level in 2015. The IP Key China project was launched in 2018. This project aims to promote continuous exchange and deep cooperation between the intellectual property authorities and business associations of China and the EU, jointly addressing new challenges in intellectual property. The National Copyright Administration has been communicating and discussing with the EU on issues such as copyright legislation, enforcement, management, and licensing through this mechanism. Both parties have held multiple seminars, further deepening government-to-government and industry-to-industry cooperation in the field of copyright between China and Europe.
The organizers of the event stated that currently, global AI technology is rapidly evolving, and generative AI technologies represented by ChatGPT are continuously generating new scenarios, new formats, new models, and new markets. While empowering human socio-economic development, they also bring new security risks and challenges. In the field of copyright, generative AI uses copyright as one of the most important basic resources, greatly changing the way content is created and disseminated. Therefore, it is urgent to gather wisdom from all parties within the copyright framework to jointly explore issues such as the copyright characteristics, ownership, infringement identification, and protection of AI-generated content, forming a global consensus. While addressing the risks and challenges encountered in traditional copyright protection, it is necessary to better provide institutional support and endogenous motivation for the compliant application and healthy, sustainable development of AI technology. The National Copyright Administration of China has a clear attitude towards this: first, to value and embrace AI, welcoming the arrival of AI with a positive and forward-looking mindset; second, to research and regulate AI, taking the revision of supporting administrative regulations such as the “Implementation Regulations of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China” as an opportunity to improve institutional design and explore norms for AI-related copyright rules. At the same time, in terms of daily supervision, strengthen monitoring of the dissemination of AI-generated content, pay attention to relevant complaints and reports regarding AI-generated content, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of copyright owners in accordance with the law; third, to exchange and share AI. Currently, many countries around the world have introduced countermeasures in the field of copyright, but there are differing attitudes among countries regarding whether AI products are copyrightable, how to regulate them, how to supervise them, how to punish them, and how to promote them. It is necessary to strengthen exchanges, share achievements, and jointly promote the application of this new technology globally, jointly maintaining the global copyright order.
Bai Jishan stated that AI is playing an increasingly significant role, but new technologies also bring new challenges to judicial practice. It is very necessary to conduct international discussions on related new topics. EU countries have a large number of creative industry practitioners, and the copyright system plays a crucial role in the development and protection of the creative industry. Faced with the increasing number of streaming media infringements and piracy, as well as the continuous copyright disputes brought by new technologies, the EU has continuously introduced new acts and decisions. At the same time, the EU is also actively applying new technologies to promote better application and protection of works. For example, establishing a database to facilitate cultural heritage-related institutions in obtaining data in digital form, while the establishment of the database can also provide support for rights holders to protect their rights.
The seminar was divided into three themes: the latest developments in Sino-European copyright legal systems, hot topics in international copyright management practices, and online copyright enforcement. At the seminar, a representative from the Law Enforcement and Supervision Division of the Copyright Administration Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee introduced the new developments in China’s copyright protection and legal system on behalf of China, and elaborated on the background of the revision of the “Implementation Regulations of the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China”. The Legal and Policy Officer of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission introduced, via video, the European Commission’s recommendations on combating online pirated broadcasts of sports and other live events, exceptions for text and data mining, and provisions related to copyright in the “AI Act”.
More than 100 people, including representatives from the EU Intellectual Property Office, EU legal experts, representatives from collective management organizations, representatives from relevant domestic ministries and commissions, collective management organizations, digital copyright enterprises, experts, and scholars, attended the seminar.