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The copyright protection system of China is established based on the Constitution, Civil Law, Criminal Law, Heritage Law and Copyright Law. The current Copyright Law makes comparatively clear and complete regulations on copyright and its protection, it is the basic law of China on copyright protection.

China also joined Berne Convention on July 10, 1992, this Convention became effective in China on October 15, 1992. China further joined World Copyright Convention on July 30, 1992, this Convention became effective in China on October 30, 1992.

The Chinese Copyright Law was promulgated in 1990 and became effective on June 1, 1991. Since China joined Berne Convention in October 1992, when a work is completed in one of the member state of the Berne Convention, it enjoys copyright protection in China automatically. However, to a work finished in a non-member state, to enjoy copyright protection, the work should be first published in a member state of Berne Convention. The protection term of Chinese copyright to an individual author is the whole life and the 50 years after death, if the author is an entity, it is 50 years from the first publication of the work.

In accordance with the Chinese law and practice, it is not compulsory to register copyright of a work, however, registration is suggested in order to handle copyright disputes more conveniently, this is because the registration certificate can be regarded as a prima facie evidence of ownership.

To obtain a copyright registration in China, a foreign applicant must entrust a Chinese agency to file an application with the Chinese Copyright Office. The Chinese Copyright Office has its branch offices in each province or municipality, like the Sichuan Copyright Office, to handle the application and issue the registration certificate which is valid nationwide in China.

1. Name(s), address(es), zip code, nationality(ies) of the copyright owner(s), name and telephone number of the person to contact; evidence(s) showing the identification of the copyright owner(s) such as:
1) For individual owner (including the heir of copyright), notarized copy of identification card.
2) For entity as owner, notarized copy of business license, etc..
2. Name(s), address(es), zip cope, nationality(ies), birthday(s), date(s) of death (if deceased), number(s) of the identification card(s) of the author(s); name and telephone number of the person to contact. 3. Power of Attorney, which shall be signed and dated by the copyright owner(s); if there are more than one owners, the Power of Attorney may be signed either by all owners, or by one owner representing all the other owners together with an authorization. 4. A brief description of the work to be registered. 5. Data relating to the work such as:
1) The title, type and date of completion of the work.
2) Whether or not the work has ever been published, if yes, date and place of its first publication; title, issue/volume and page numbers of series/collection/journal/ magazine in which the work was once published and date of the publication;
3) If in deductive form, the title and registration number (if any) of the original work, type of the deductive form, such as the recomposed, the translated, the compiled, the rearranged and the annotated, etc. 6. If the copyright of the work has been licensed to a third party, then,
1) Notarized copy of the license contract;
2) Name, address (including post code) of the licensee;
3) Information on the method and duration of the license;
4) Name and telephone number of the person to contact to (if any). 7. Notarized copy of commissioning contract for a commissioned work. 8. Notarized copy of assignment from the original owner to the current copyright owner(s) if the copyright has been assigned.

Written works; Oral works; Musical, dramatic, quyi, and choreographic works; Artistic and Architectural works; Photographic works; Cinematographic and audio-visual works; Graphic works and models related to engineering designs, product designs, maps; Computer Software; Other works specified by laws and regulations.

Right of publication; Right of authorship; Right of alteration; Right of protection against distortion; Right of reproduction; Right of leasing; Right of public performance of a mechanical work; Right of exhibition; Right of performance; Right of broadcast; Right of distribution over an information network; Right of adaptation; Right of translation; Right of compilation and annotation.