As in many other countries, copyright registration is a voluntary procedure in China. Copyright shall exist from the date on which the creation of a work has been completed or from the date on which the development of a software product has been completed.
When applying for copyright registration with the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC), there are two kinds of registration: for the original state of the rights, and for change of rights.
Copyright registration for the original state of the rights is referred to as “copyright registration”. The registered information mainly includes the title of the work, name of the author, name of the copyright owner, date of completion and date of the first publication, etc. The copyright registration applies only to the original acquisition of a copyright, not to the acquisition of a copyright through assignment.
Registration for change of rights, also referred to as “copyright contract recordation”, includes contract recordation for copyright assignment and contract recordation for licensing. The recorded information mainly includes the title of the work, names of the assigner/licensor and assignee/licensee, the rights that have been transferred, the date of the assignment, or the manner of exploitation, territory and duration of the licence. The registration is not a premise of the effectiveness of the assignment/licence.
In order to apply for a copyright registration in China, the following documents are required.