China Strengthens Regulation on Copyright Compliance for Cloud Storage Services
On 20 October 2015, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) published the Circular on Regulating Copyright Compliance in Online Storage Services.
The Circular specifies the obligations of the service providers in providing cloud storage services with more elaborated and operable requirements on the basis of relevant provisions in the Chinese Copyright Law. Obligations of the service providers stated in the Circular are three-pronged:
i) Concerted effort with copyright holders: service providers should clearly indicate on the front page of their online storage platforms how copyright holders may report on incidents of infringement, and deal with the matter promptly upon receiving such reports;
ii) Self-initiation: service providers should take effective actions to stop uploading, storing and sharing of infringing or pirated works, and refrain from facilitating illegal sharing of others' works;
iii) User management: service providers should keep record of users' registration information, and bring the users to respect copyright by such measures as blacklisting the offenders or by suspending or terminating their services.
According to the joint announcement by NCAC, the State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security in June 2015, regulation of copyright compliance in cloud storage services has been identified as one of the five main tasks to be carried out under "Operation Swordnet 2015", a nationwide initiative of fighting against Internet copyright infringement with thematic tasks on yearly basis dating back to a decade ago.
