Mr. Zhu Yongde, President of China Film Copyright Association

--- An interview with Mr. Zhu Yongde, President of China Film Copyright Association

On October 23, 2009, the China Film Copyright Protection Association was officially changed from an industrial right protection organization to a copyright collective management organization and was renamed to China Film Copyright Association. The change required approval by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), and is subject to the authorization by and registration change at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Recently, China IP had an exclusive interview with Mr. Zhu Yongde, President and Legal Representative of the Association.

The time-consuming birth of the collective management organization

China IP: We know that the China Film Copyright Association was previously known as the China Film Copyright Protection Association. In what context and by what process was it established?

Mr. Zhu: Recent years have seen the constant acceleration of China’s film industrialization: More and more social investments have swarmed into this industry; domestically produced films have shown dramatic increases in quality, quantity and market share; and the reform of the film distribution system and cinema-chain system have brought many positive effects on China’s film market. However, accompanying this development has been a swarm illegally copied films, which have usurped more and more of the market share from copyrighted films and audiovisual products. Amid the development of science and technology and the progress of film media and expansion of dissemination scope, right owners of cinematographic works find more and more areas where they can’t exercise their own rights, such as Internet bars, hotels and vehicles. Especially after the network era came, cinematographic works have been disseminated by many new forms of media, which greatly darkens the traditional distribution patterns and impairs the income for traditional distributors. A number of Internet bars and websites offer film access to terminal users and benefit from them, while the right owners of these films get nothing. Some users who want to comply with the law, but are unable to afford the broadcasting fee for the large amount of films, accept the assurances of some agencies that cheat and provide them falsified authorizations. This not only impairs the rights of the films’ copyright owners and indulges piracy, but also disturbs the order of the film’s copyright trade and hinders the long-term development of the film industry. Under such rampant film piracy, film owners are eager to find a film copyright protection association to protect their rights.

At the National Film Work Conference held in December 2003, leading officials from the SARFT proposed setting up a rights-keeping organization for Chinese films in the name of the China Film Producer’s Association and several other institutions. Then the Seventh General Assembly of China Film Producer’s Association, held in April 2004, adopted the resolution of setting up the China Film Copyright Protection Association. On August 29, 2005, the China Film Copyright Protection Association was officially established. Sponsors included more than 50 major production institutions in China, including the China Film Producer’s Association, the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association, the China City Cinema Development Association and members of the China Audio & Video Association, such as the China Film Group Corporation and the Shanghai Film Group Corporation.

China IP: Why did it take you four years to change the association to a collective management organization?

Mr. Zhu: We originally planned to establish a film collective management organization, just like the Music Copyright Society of China. However, when we were doing the preparation, the Collective Management of Copyright Regulations had not been promulgated yet, and the NCAC could only authorize the establishment of a rights-keeping organization. Therefore, the SARFT decided to set up the rights-keeping organization first and change it to a copyright collective management association after the Regulations were promulgated. When the China Film Copyright Protection Association was formally established, the Regulations had already been promulgated and the Council of the Association decided to start the preparation of the collective management organization starting in 2006. In the following three years, the Association did a lot of research work and sought wide opinions from right owners, film users, film experts, legal experts, local film and copyright administrative departments and similar industrial associations. Based on the opinions received, it amended the articles of association as per the requirements of the Collective Management of Copyright Regulations. It then submitted it to SARFT for review and formally applied to the NCAC for the change of the association to a copyright collective management organization. The NCAC arranged for its Film Administration Bureau, Department of Laws and Regulations, Social Control Department and Planning Department to hold meetings to discuss and comment on the documents provided by the Association. The Association subsequently made amendments based on the new opinions put forward. With the consent of the members of the Association, the documents were finally submitted to SARFT in July 2008 for examination and approval, which offered the approval and sent a letter to NCAC the following month for final approval. On July 20, 2009, the General Administration of Press and Publication of China replied in writing, granting approval for the China Film Copyright Protection Association to change from a rights-keeping organization to a copyright collective management association and to be renamed to China Film Copyright Association. On October 23, 2009, the Association received approval of the renaming from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and consequently changed the registration with the Ministry. At that point, all of the application and approval procedures were finished, and the China Film Copyright Protection Association was officially changed to the China Film Copyright Association.