mehaniq
6 July 2020Copyright

China’s Sword Net campaign to crack down on online piracy

Chinese IP authorities have launched the Sword Net 2020 campaign, aimed at tackling online piracy and copyright infringement.

The four-month campaign will target the production and distribution of pirated copies of films and TV shows.

According to a release from China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), authorities will supervise e-commerce platforms by targeting websites selling pirated books, music, and videos.

Authorities have also identified copyright-protected news media and education materials as part of the campaign’s focus.

The CNIPA indicated that social media platforms would be expected to enforce copyright for news reports and images, and could be shut down for “wilful infringements”.

It also committed to “vigorously protecting” the copyright for material on the Building a Powerful Nation education platform, and “cutting off the illegal industrial chain of pirated courses online”.

IP authorities in China have previously highlighted several “ special actions” and campaigns on online piracy.

The country’s National Copyright Administration announced last February that it had removed 570,000 infringing videos online, and disabled 1.85 million links to infringing content.

Chinese courts have also led the way in adopting  blockchain technology for online copyright enforcement.

Blockchain records have been accepted by China’s specialised Internet Courts as proof of authorship, while the country’s Supreme Court has also ruled that the technology can be used to authenticate evidence.

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