Essay Intellectual Property and Copyrights Issues in China

of having to buy the book for themselves. While this is a noble act by the

Protection through copyright is immediate and based on the author appending the copyright symbol to the documented work. Unlike copyrights and patents, trademarks and trade secrets are protected forever and not subject to the “limited time” restriction of the Constitution (Lau & Johnson, 2013).

Since 1996, the European Union's Trademark Regulation has allowed a single trademark registration enforceable in all members of the European Union.

Intellectual property is a broad term that is used to refer to the rights that the owner of an invention or an artwork enjoys. An example of intellectual property law is the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which gives individual rights such as patent, designs, and trademark. Intellectual property is contained in the Article 2(viii) of the convention, which led the establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Literary works, inventions, discoveries, trademarks, and industrial designs are among the rights that are provided in WIPO. Intellectual property in Australia has a strong judicial support.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (n.d.) helps one understand the importance of protecting intellectual property. They have spelled out several reasons of this importance including inventing new works in technology and culture, which allows progress to be made that, can be utilized worldwide. In addition, the legal protection of intellectual property encourages the commitment of additional resources for further modernization. Finally, promoting and protecting intellectual property encourages economic growth. It creates new jobs and industries. Protecting intellectual property also enhances the quality and

A copyright gives the originator of literary, artistic, or music works the right to perform, publish, record, or print them. This can include sound recordings, paintings, photographs, films, melodies, television, radio broadcasts, cable programs, performances, and even codes to computer programs (Legal Information Institute). Since copyrights cover several different types of materials, the duration varies depending on what work is being protected. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, musical, artistic, and literary works created after January 1, 1978 have copyrights that last 70 years after the author has passed away, 95 years after publication, or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first (United States Copyright Office, 2011). However, the published editions of these works have copyrights that last 25 years after being first published. Broadcast and cable programs, on the other hand, have a copyright duration of 50 years after being created

It is interesting to note that some of the new Internet regulations contradict International Laws signed by the Chinese government. China signed the

Among them were a Trademark Law, A Patent Law, a Copyright Law, Regulations for the Protection of Computer Software, and others designed for protection of intellectual property rights. Besides, China has joined a number of international bodies and showed her willingness to take responsibilities. So far, China has built a relatively integrated legal structure in protection of intellectual properties.

The increasing acceptance of the intellectual property laws by the public culture is somehow related to the ideals of property, control and fear that the benefits from resources out of control may not be significant.

In accordance with its accession to the World Trade Organization in 1999, and to comply with its obligations on copyright protection under the TRIPS Agreement, China has amended its 1991 Copyright Law. In this article the authors set out the 60 provisions of the Chinese law, consolidating the substantial amendments made under the legislation passed in 2001. Out of the 60 provisions, few remain as they were - only 13 in all. The authors conclude that "future evaluations of the level of copyright protection in the PRC should take into consideration where the

Therefore, it falls into the distinct categories of shareware (demo or trial software where you can download it for free but some features are restricted or to continue to use the software a payment is required) and payware (traditional pay-to-use software) but not freeware (since its free). In all cases however, the source code is hidden from the users, so that the rights holders (the software publishers) can sell the binary executable (source code).

A bilateral agreement that encourages joint ventures between the U.S. and China will also help to foster a culture of IPR enforcement in China. Intellectual property lawyer Frank Lin attributes China’s dismissive attitude towards IP protection to China’s recent emergence from Communism. Private property rights in China have only existed for a generation, and joint ventures will help to accelerate a shift in cultural attitudes.

China’s patent system can be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty when China began signing international treaties. For example, on August 18, 1903, China and the United States agreed on a treaty on navigation and commerce. The treaty provided for a “reciprocal patent-granting arrangement whereby citizens of one contracting party could apply for and secure patent rights for their inventions in the other contracting party.”1 After the Qing Dynasty was over thrown in 1911, the

Copyright notices—often just a simple statement on the work itself of the year protection was acquired and by whom—are not always a good indication of whether or not a work is protected because most countries do not require such formalities, and so lack of notice does not mean lack of protection. Courts may also subsequently decide in the context of an infringement suit that the work did not meet the minimum criteria for copyright protection, even if the work had been previously registered by a government copyright agency. However, copyright notices give at least some indication of who to contact if permission is

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO Members. It is s an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that.