(Promulgated by Decree No. 339 of the State Council of People’s Republic of China on December 20, 2001, amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision about Abolishing and Amending parts of the Administrative Regulations of the State Council on January 8, 2011, amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision about Amending the Implementing Regulations of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China of the State Council on January 30, 2013)
Chapter ⅠGeneral Provisions
1． Computer program shall mean a sequence of code－based instructions that can be executed by such devices having information processing capacity as computer for achieving a certain result， or a sequence of symbol－based instructions or expressions that can be automatically converted into a sequence of code－based instructions． The source program and the object program in a computer program shall be an identical work．
2． Documentation shall mean the written materials and diagrams， such as the program design specifications， flow charts and operating manual， which are used to describe the contents， elements， design， functions and specifications， development， testing results and operating method of the program．
3． Software creator shall mean the legal person or other organization which actually organizes to create or directly creates the software and assumes responsibility for that software； or the natural person who creates the software by virtue of his own resources and assumes responsibility for that software．
4． Software copyright owner shall mean the natural person， legal person or other organization that shall enjoy copyright in the software under the provisions of this Regulation．
Chapter Ⅱ Software Copyright
Software copyright owners shall enjoy the following rights：
1． The right of publication， that is， the right to decide whether or not to make their software available to the public；
2． The right of authorship， that is， the right to indicate the creators' identity and to sign their names on their software；
3． The right of alteration， that is， the right to add or delete the elements of their software or to alter instructions or expression sequences；
4． The right of reproduction， that is， the right to make one or more copies of their software；
5． The right of distribution， that is， the right to supply the originals or copies of their software to the public in the form of sale or gift；
6． The right of rental， that is， the right to license other persons to use their software temporarily， except where their software is not the key subject matter of the rental；
7． The right of dissemination through information networks， that is， the right to supply their software to the public in the form of wire or wireless， in order to make the members of the public to obtain their software on the time or in the place selected；
8． The right of translation， that is， the right to convert their original software from a natural language into another； and
9． Other rights that shall be enjoyed by software copyright owners．
Software copyright owners may license other persons to exercise their software copyright and shall have the right to accept compensations．
Software copyright owners may， wholly or partly， transfer their software copyright and shall have the right to accept compensations．
Software copyright shall belong to the software creators， unless otherwise specified in this Regulation．
Failing proof to the contrary， natural persons， legal persons or other organizations named in the software shall be the creators．
The ownership of copyright in the software that was jointly created by two or more natural persons， legal persons or other organizations shall be stipulated in a written contract by the co－creators．
In the absence of such a written contract or an explicit stipulation in the contract， any of the co－creators may enjoy the copyright in the part he created if that software can be separated for use． Notwithstanding， his exercise of copyright may not be extended to the whole copyright in that software．
If that software cannot be separated for use， the copyright in it shall be jointly enjoyed by the co－creators and exercised by negotiation among them． In the case of failure of negotiation and without due grounds， one party may not prevent the other party from exercising the rights other than the right of transfer． Notwithstanding， profits thus received shall be distributed among all the co－creators reasonably．
Under any of the following circumstances， the copyright in the software that was created by a natural person within the term of his duty in the legal person or other organization shall belong to the legal person or other organization．The legal person or other organization may give praises and rewards to the natural person who created the software：
1． The software was created for the purpose determined in the duty；
2． The software so created is the predictable or natural result in the activities of duty； or
3． The software was created mainly by virtue of such material and technical resources as fund， special equipment or undisclosed special information of the legal person or other organization and for which the legal person or other organization shall assume responsibility．
The copyright in the software shall be commenced from the date on which the software is created．
The term of protection for the copyright in the software of the natural person shall be the life of the natural person and fifty years after his death， and shall end on 31st of December of the fiftieth year after his death． If the software was created jointly， the term of protection shall end on 31st of December of the fiftieth year after the death of the last surviving natural person．
The term of protection for the copyright in the software of the legal person or other organization shall be fifty years and shall end on 31st of December of the fiftieth year after the first publication of the software． However， if the software has not been published within fifty years from the date of creation， it shall not be protected by this Regulation．
Owners of lawful copies of software shall enjoy the following rights：
1． To load the software into such devices having information processing capacity as computer according to the operational need；
2． To make back－ups for avoiding damage to the copies． These back－ups may not be provided to other persons for use in any way． Once the owner loses the ownership of the lawful copies， he shall be responsible for destroying all the back－ups； and
3． To make necessary modifications in order to use the software in the practical application environment for computers or to improve the functions of the software．
The software so modified may not， however， be provided to the third party without the license of the software copyright owner， unless otherwise stipulated in the contract．
Chapter ⅢI Licensing and Transfer of Software Copyright
The licensing of software copyright shall be in possession of a contract for licensing．
The licensee may not exercise the right that has not been licensed by the software copyright owner in the contract for licensing．
If a software copyright is licensed to other persons to exclusively exercise， the parties concerned shall conclude a contract in writing．
In the absence of such a contract in writing or an explicit stipulation on exclusive license in the contract， the right so licensed to exercise shall be considered as the non－exclusive right．
Chapter Ⅳ Legal Responsibility
Except as otherwise provided in the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China and this Regulation， anyone who commits any of the following infringing acts shall， upon the situation， stop the infringement， eliminate the effect， make a public apology， compensate for loss and bear other civil responsibilities：
1． Without the licensing by the software copyright owner， to publish or register his software；
2． To publish or register another person's software as his own；
3． Without the licensing by the co－creator， to publish or register the software created jointly as one created by his own；
4． To sign his name in another person's software or to alter the name indicated therein；
5． Without the licensing by the software copyright owner， to alter or translate his software； or
6． Other acts of infringing the software copyright．
Except as otherwise provided in the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China， this Regulation or other laws or administrative regulations， anyone who， without the licensing by the software copyright owner， commits any of the following infringing acts， shall， upon the situation， stop the infringement， eliminate the effect， make a public apology， compensate for loss and bear other civil responsibilities； if his act prejudices the social and public interests， the copyright administrative department shall order him to stop the infringing act， confiscate of his illegal gains， confiscate and destroy the infringing copies and may concurrently impose a fine； if the circumstances are serious， the copyright administrative department may concurrently confiscate of the key materials， tools and equipment for making the infringing copies； if his act prejudices the Criminal Law， he shall， according to law， be demanded for criminal responsibility under the provisions of the Criminal law on crimes of infringing on the copyright and crimes of selling the infringing copies：
1． To reproduce， wholly or partly， the software of the copyright owner；
2． To distribute， rent or disseminate through information networks the software of the copyright owner to the public；
3． Intentionally to escape from or disrupt the technical measures adopted by the copyright owner for protecting his software copyright；
4． Intentionally to delete or alter electric data for software right management； or
5． To transfer or license another person to exercise the software copyright of the copyright owner．
In addition， the infringer who commits the act under subparagraph 1 or 2 of the paragraph above shall be concurrently imposed a fine of 100 yuan per copy or not exceeding five times the value of the copies； the infringer who commits the act under subparagraph 3， 4 or 5 of the paragraph above shall be concurrently imposed a fine not exceeding 50，000 yuan．The software copy holder who is unknown or has no reasonable grounds to know that his software is an infringing copy shall not bear the responsibility for compensation； however， he shall stop the use or destroy the infringing copy．
If the cease of use and destruction of the infringing copy has caused a serious loss to the copy user， the latter may continue the use after he makes a reasonable payment to the software copyright owner．
All disputes in respect of the infringement on the software copyright may be mediated．
All disputes in respect of the contracts for software copyright may be applied for arbitration to the arbitration organizations pursuant to the arbitration clauses in the contracts or written arbitration agreements concluded afterwards．
The parties concerned may bring the action directly before the people's court in the absence of an arbitration clause in the contract or in the absence of a written arbitration agreement concluded afterwards．
Chapter ⅤSupplementary Provisions
This Regulation shall enter into operation on January 1， 2002．
The Regulation on the Protection of Computer Software promulgated on June 4， 1991 by the State Council shall be repealed on the same day．