Chinese Websites Publish Internet Copyright Manifesto

Over a hundred websites from China have jointly released the “China Internet Industry Copyright Self-discipline Manifesto” in Beijing.

The manifesto is signed by exactly 101 companies, including, Sina, Sohu, and CCTV.com, and it stresses that Internet service providers should take technical measures to prevent users from uploading popular films and TV programs that are currently being shown to the public, and they will stop providing services to users who violate the agreement by illegal uploading and removing the relevant content from their websites.

The manifesto states that Internet service providers should not publish any works or encourage users to upload works without the approval of the works’ copyright owners. They should stop users from uploading TV or films that are not authorized for public dissemination. The companies will also delete or screen the content in question within 24 hours after they receive complaints from the copyright owners.

Separately, Chinese online video website Youku.com last week also opened its copyright identification management platform to identify and prevent the upload of infringing video content by Youku users. Through this new system on Youku, legitimate copyright holders can take full advantage of Youku’s value chain, from content to platform to marketing.