China launches campaign to tackle online infringement

Chinese authorities have launched a campaign aimed at tackling online copyright infringement.

The National Copyright Administration of China, the Cyberspace Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security kicked off the campaign on Monday, July 16.

During the campaign, which will last more than four months, the authorities will push internet service providers to enhance their internal copyright supervision systems, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

The unauthorised republication of news and plagiarism on social media are key targets of the campaign, along with the unauthorised broadcasting of copyright-protected content on short video-sharing apps and copyright violations through the creation of overseas servers.

In February this year, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) recommended that China be placed on the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) watch list in its “2018 Special 301 Report”. 

“It will surely come as no surprise to USTR that China remains the country of highest priority for IACC members this year, as in countless years past,” said the submission.

On the final list, which was released in late April, China was featured for IP failures for the 14^th year in a row.

The report said that China’s “coercive technology transfer practices, range of impediments to effective IP enforcement, and widespread infringing activity, including trade secret theft, rampant online piracy, and counterfeit manufacturing”, were of particular concern.