China's copyright entries see continued increase

China has seen rapid growth in copyright registrations over the past few years due to the country's intensified efforts in intellectual property protection and people's increasing awareness to guarantee their works, IP experts said.

Last year, more than 4.18 million works were registered at the National Copyright Administration, up 21 percent year-on-year. Of those works, art made up the largest proportion, followed by photography and literary works, according to a report issued by the government agency recently.

Registrations have been rising in the past decade due to the development of the economy, technology and culture, said Kang Lixia, an IP lawyer from Beijing Conzen Law Firm.

"These flourishing industries help us create more and diversified works."

Meanwhile, the growth could also be attributed to people's enhanced legal awareness, she said.

"Previously, we learned about safeguarding copyright after we found our novels or photos were copied, but it was too late," she said."Instead, we should prevent them from being plagiarized, or the copyright protection should be promoted ahead of the infringements."

Chinese laws stipulate that a copyright takes effect upon a work's creation, and the protection of that work should begin immediately, "but it'll still be hard for the work's creator to prove he or she is the copyright owner when plagiarism happens, especially in this internet era where information is easily falsified or eliminated," she said.

Registration, however, can alleviate the problem, "as registrants will be given a certificate from the administration, with a clear introduction of a work's author and publication time," she said, which can serve as powerful evidence for the true copyright owner in a lawsuit.

As for the great proportion of photography and artwork in registration, Wang Weiwei, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said "it is because high-tech devices, such as cameras and smartphones, have made such creations much easier".

"For example, most mobile phones have a function to take pictures, and the photos can be posted on social media platforms in a few seconds," he said.

"Compared with novels and other time-consuming creations, photographing is quicker, and it's easier to produce works."

Kang believes that short videos will see an uptrend in copyright registration as smartphone applications and software have become more popular.

Although the decision to pay for registration depends on the work's owner, both lawyers suggested people go to the administration to register in a timely manner to maximize protection of their copyright.