#Copyright practice – a small talk about fixation.
I recently had another interesting discussion with my friend, Kurt Saunders from California State University, the Chair of the IP department, about copyright. He asked me if fixation is a requirement under Chinese copyright law. Under US law, an original work must be fixed in a tangible medium in the form of a copy (or phonorecord for sound recordings). The medium has to be stable and lasting. In other words, this means the work must be recorded or stored on some physical object, like paper, canvas, a hard drive or CD, or any other medium used for recording or displaying creative works. If the work is not fixed, it has no copyright protection. For example, an improvised live dance or musical performance is not fixed unless it has been recorded. Also, an ice sculpture or sidewalk chalk art is not fixed because the media used is too temporary to last for a long time. Copyright is one interesting right in the IP family. It is right there on the date the workpiece is born. Whether you file the registration to record it later or not, it still exists. So the "fixation" concept in US law is more like a “paper” to prove the creation is born - with it, you can call it is protected by copyright; without it, no, not until you have it "fixed". How about the Copyright law in China? So the major concept is this - under the Chinese Copyright Law, works created by the author and with originality are protected by copyright. There is no requirement for fixation, publication, or registration. To put it in a more straightforward and non-legal language, copyright protection is right there when the works are created, not matter with a tangible medium or not. But one thing is the same in China and the US, when you file the registration, the workpiece has to be shown on one physical object. Should you have any questions about IP practices in China, feel free to reach out. #copyright #chinaip #IP
2 Comments
Kurt M. Saunders
3/18/2024 12:32:43 pm
As it turns out, fixation was once required under Chinese Copyright Law before 2020. I recently discovered that the Third Amendment to the Chinese Copyright Law, which took effect on November 11, 2020, eliminated the fixation requirement for copyrightable works.
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IP inquiry
3/18/2024 06:41:19 pm
patent
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