The two draft amendments were both proposed by the State Council to the ongoing 19th session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for a preliminary reading.

Most of the revisions were done in line with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property - the so-called TRIPs Agreement, which the government has promised to implement after it becomes a WTO member, said NPC sources.

The TRIPs Agreement outlines the minimum mechanisms WTO member countries must establish to protect intellectual property rights.

According to the amendment to the nine-year-old Copyright Law, radio and television stations should pay copyright holders when they play published recording products, although asking for permission is not necessary.

Under the current Copyright Law, such usage is free of charge, citing coercive permission as the reason.

Coercive permission is where individuals or companies are allowed to use something with a copyright, whether the actual copyright holder likes it or not.

The amendment has also given more clout to the protection of Internet copyright to go with the development of information technology, according to Shi Zongyuan, director of National Copyright Administration.

Following the practice of the TRIPs Agreement, the draft amendments specify copyright rules as rights over copying, publishing, renting, exhibiting, performing in public, broadcasting, disseminating, videoing, adapting, translating and compiling registered works.

The amendments to the Trademark Law have introduced the protection of renowned trademarks and the prohibition of malicious registration of trademarks, to align the law with the TRIPs Agreement, said Wang Zhongfu, director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

The amendments have also added prescriptions protecting collective marks and certification marks, banning the use of official marks and inspection stamps as trademarks and taking temporary measures to avoid loss of evidence and possible damages to trademark owners.

It has also made improvements to the rights on priority, judicial examination over trademark disputes, trademark administration and compensation for trademark infringement.

(China Daily December 27, 2000)