China's lawmakers on Tuesday started reviewing a draft amendment to the Copyright Law, which would give authorities more powers when punishing infringements.
The draft amendment, which raises the statutory damages by ten times from 500,000 yuan (around 75,500 U.S. dollars) to 5 million yuan, was submitted Tuesday to the 23rd standing committee session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, for a third reading.
The latest revisions to the draft include the creation of a compensation floor of 500 yuan for violators of the Copyright Law.
Legal experts have said the key to copyright protection is to make sure the penalty is higher than the gains from violations. They believe that the amendment, with the introduction of the punitive damages, would further enhance the copyright protection measures stipulated in the law that was first enacted in 1991 and amended in 2001 and 2010.
The third deliberation draft also stipulates that the reproductions of infringements should be destroyed upon the request of the obligees other than in exceptional cases.
It adds that the materials, tools, and facilities mainly used for the reproductions of infringements should be destroyed without any compensation.
The NPC standing committee session will run from Tuesday to Wednesday with a vote at the end of it.
