14-25 May 2009, Austria, Switzerland and Spain

IPR2 supported a delegation of officials from the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on a study tour to Austria, Switzerland and Spain, to meet with European academics, officials and practitioners, as part of China's revision of the Copyright Law, discuss the expected impact of the new law and provide recommendations to the drafting team. 

The study tour enabled the LAC drafting team to put questions to the European copyright law authorities and experts, who drew from their experiences to compare and discuss the expected impact of the new law and make respective suggestions to the Chinese officials. Making European expertise available for the revision of the Copyright Law gives an opportunity to share best practices on how to tackle problems with regard to the protection of copyrights, promoting an interactive exchange between European and Chinese expertise on key issues, an improved understanding of the existing legal framework, mechanisms and best practices in Europe and provides basis for further discussion and clarification of copyright protection in both regions. 

The delegation was led by Mr Wang Shengming, Vice-Chairman of LAC, and met with the Federal Austrian Ministry of Justice, the Commercial Court of Vienna, as well as Austrian Collective Management Societies, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, the High Court of the Canton of Bern, the Swiss Parliament, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) headquarters, the Court of Second Instance in Barcelona, the Spanish Ministry of Culture as well as Collective Management Societies and law firms.

• Recent developments in copyright protection in the EU as well as Austria, Switzerland and Spain.
• Introduction of innovative systems of copyright protection in the development of new technologies e.g. copyright infringement on the internet.
• Experiences and issues on the protection of traditional culture, including how to better protect historic buildings, traditional language, traditional music, traditional art and other traditional culture through the copyright system.
• European experience with prohibited works and copyright protection

The LAC is a working body of the Standing Committee of the NPC. It is responsible for the legislative and other legal affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC, and acts as assistant and legal counsel to the deputies and leaders of NPC. The Study Tour served to provide comprehensive responses to the topics that form part of LAC’s revision of the Patent Law and well as concrete suggestions provided to the drafting team in its final stages of revision. Such an opportunity for face-to-face discussions with key patent-related authorities and experts contributes to a closer understanding of the European IP systems and experiences and stronger ties between Chinese and European IP-related authorities. 

This is part of a larger collaboration between IPR2 and LAC on the review of the Copyright Law, which will continue with a workshop to provide further contributions and support to the ongoing drafting process. This forms part of IPR2’s work in support of China’s revision of its major IP laws. Similar support was undertaken with the revision of the Patent Law in 2008. More details. And is ongoing with the Trademark Law. More details.

Useful links 

Legislative Affairs Committee (LAC) of the National People's Congress (NPC)

National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) 

For more information on revision of the copyright law, contact Mr Andreas Obst This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

For general information on IPR2, contact Ms Tamryn Barker This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

[IPR2 ref: CC1.AW2.001]