On 14.07.2020, Zhang Kaiye* gave a lecture on the development of Chinese copyright law at the ITM. He introduced the audience* to the origins of the Copyright Act and gave them an overview of the main aspects of the three changes in the law that have taken place since then. In doing so, he always placed them in an international context, from the Berne Convention to the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances.
The main focus of the presentation was the discussion of the Punitive Damages introduced by the last amendment. According to Art. 53 of the Chinese Copyright Act, punitive damages can be imposed in the case of intentional and particularly serious copyright infringements. The amount of damages depends on the value of the damage and is payable to the right holder. Thus, the Copyright Act ties in with other areas, such as the Chinese Consumer Protection Law, Trademark Law and Unfair Competition Law, where punitive damages are already possible.
After the presentation, there was an opportunity for questions and discussion. The ITM would like to thank Zhang Kaiye for his interesting lecture and his excellent work as a guest researcher in the civil law department of the ITM.
* Zhang Kaiye is a doctoral student at the School of Law of Tsinghua University in China and a guest researcher in the civil law department of ITM.
