Mapping China: Music - State Policy: Copyrights

China is known for its lax IPR. There are signs that this trend is changing slowly in certain sectors. For instance video streaming websites buy copyrights for American soap series and suing competitors for infringements. But the music industry seems to perpetually remain in a state of anticipation for that day that music stops being free.

Especially since the PRC joined the WTO in 2001, its copyright laws are up to international standards. The problem lies with institutionalization.

• In Hong Kong the Composers and Authors Society (CASH) was established in 1977
• Currently, the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC 音著协) is the only legal collecting society for composers and music publishers in China (lyrics are separate). In music circles, MCSC is ridiculed for its incompetence and corruption. There have been cases where pop singers ask companies for compensation, and the company claims having purchased a license through MCSC long ago, of which the pop singers never received any proceedings.

There are reasons for MCSC’s incompetence. Radio and TV broadcasters are state-owned companies that see themselves as providing a public service to the masses. In their mind music is a public good which should not be monopolized by privately owned record companies. Instead, these companies should be grateful for airtime and exposure (someone actually said this at a conference). Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and Baidu treat their dominating music streaming websites QQ Music and Baidu Music as a cheap platform for drawing users to their more profitable services. Without commitment to the music industry they remain parasitic. As a result, in discussions over new legislation music copyright owners are relatively weak, let alone musicians.

Copyright Owners, Not Musicians

Music companies report a modest income from their catalogues, mainly by working around MCSC, sending legal notices, making deals with broadcasters and streaming websites, and, occasionally, public outrage.

These developments still tend to be quite far removed from the musicians who initially wrote the music. For over twenty years, musicians have been selling off the copyrights of their compositions and recordings to record companies. Rather than a percentage of sales figures they don’t feel they can check, musicians routinely opt for a lump sum, covering the recording process plus a bit more. Whereas in most parts of the world record companies only get exclusive licenses for the recording for the duration of the contract, plus its promotional use thereafter, in China, record companies can technically sue artist for performing their own songs after a contract ends. Of course this never happens. But Chinese artists are rarely in control over their backlog, and cannot license their own music for distribution outside of China, even though the copyright owners might not do anything with the rights.

Although musicians are still cynical, there seems to be growing awareness that copyrights might be worth something someday.

Protecting Your Copyrights in China

If you want to recover royalties or simply stop the blatant infringement of your copyrighted material in China, work with a well-connected local company that can represent you in the Chinese market. In general the policy for most platforms (see below for a list) still is to upload (foreign) recordings and offer them for free streaming and downloading to their user, unless they get a takedown notice from a source that they cannot ignore. Local partners can help arrange this. One of the first things they will do is to register your copyright with Chinese agencies, such as ISRC China.

For instance Taylor Swift succeeded in getting her catalogue removed from all major music streaming and downloading websites.

• There are several legal firms that offer these services.
• The music / IT company R2G has the expertise (legal and otherwise) and contacts (for instance MCSC) to address copyright infringements, and can help you distribute your music legally.
• Outdustry is Briton Ed Peto’s consultancy that focuses on facilitating mastering and mixing Chinese albums abroad and assisting record labels in their entry on the Chinese market.

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