China’s IPR campaign expanded to prevent online piracy

BEIJING - With the Internet becoming a major battleground for China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) protection campaign, a spokesman for the National Copyright Administration, has said the government is more than determined to prevent online piracy.

Wang Ziqiang told the China Daily that the rapid development of computer technology, which outpaces changes in the legal system, poses a severe challenge to fighting IPR online violation.

“It is vital to protect online IPR. If not, the traditional press, the publication industry, movies and music will face severe threats from online ‘theft’ if everyone goes online to get free material,” he said.

The number of Internet users in China hit 450 million at the end of November, up more than 20 percent year-on-year, official figures show.

Only if everyone respects authors’ IPR in the real and virtual worlds can the cultural and creative industries see sustainable and booming development, Wang said.

China has already updated legislation to fight piracy and protect online IPR.

The new document and the government’s crackdown will see a decrease in Internet IPR violation cases, Wang said.

Of the 55 major IPR violation cases announced recently, 34 involved Internet IPR, which shows the Internet has become a major battleground, Wang added.

Statistics from the State Intellectual Property Office show the number of online IPR violation cases in 2009 made up about 50 percent of the total number of copyright cases.

China’s copyright law was first launched in 1990. It covered Internet IPR in 2001, while stiffer punishment for online IPR violation was introduced in 2004. (ANI)