The new copyright law introduces punitive damages for infringement, which greatly increases the infringement cost and compensation ceiling by 10 times, thus "supporting" the creators. The definition and types of works have been improved, covering online games, live photos of events and short videos, and the scope of protection has been further expanded.

(1) The system of punitive damages for infringement has been added.

According to the Copyright Law of People's Republic of China (PRC)

Article 54 Where copyright or copyright-related rights are infringed, the infringer shall pay compensation according to the actual losses of the obligee or the illegal gains of the infringer; If it is difficult to calculate the actual loss of the obligee or the illegal income of the infringer, compensation may be made with reference to the use fee. In case of intentional infringement of copyright or copyright-related rights, if the circumstances are serious, compensation may be paid at least one time but not more than five times the amount determined by the above method.

If it is difficult to calculate the actual loss of the obligee, the illegal income of the infringer and the royalty, the people's court shall award compensation of more than 5 million yuan to 500 yuan according to the circumstances of the infringement.

"In the field of copyright, there have always been problems of high law-abiding cost and low illegal cost, which is also a strong reaction from all parties. In order to solve this problem, on the basis of carefully studying the opinions of all parties, this revision has improved and perfected the tort compensation system and increased the punishment for infringement. " Shi Hongru said.

He further explained that this time, the calculation method and application order of tort damages were adjusted. In the past, it was stipulated that damages should be calculated according to losses, and those without losses should be compensated according to infringement profits, which invisibly increased the difficulty of proof for infringers and was also a legal problem. This amendment does not strictly follow this order, but gives this power to the parties. "If you think the other party is more likely to make a profit, you can calculate the amount of damages according to the profit. If you think it is more convenient to prove the loss, you can request the amount of damages according to the loss, which is more conducive to protecting the rights and interests of the parties. "

In addition, the new law increases the right license fee as a reference method to determine the compensation for infringement damages, which is connected with the patent law and trademark law; More importantly, this time, the system of punitive damages for infringement has been specially added, which is a major institutional change. At present, in our country, increasing tort damages can further curb malicious infringement. Therefore, the new law clearly stipulates that intentional infringement of copyright or copyright-related rights, if the circumstances are serious, can be compensated according to the amount of damages of more than one time but less than five times.

"We believe that the establishment of the tort compensation system has increased the illegal cost of copyright infringement and has a great deterrent effect on cracking down on repeated infringement and large-scale infringement." Shi Hong said that the new law has further improved the legal compensation system. In the past, the legal compensation amount was up to 500,000 yuan, and this time it mentioned 5 million yuan, which is the upper limit; In addition, the lower limit 500 yuan is stipulated, because the forms of works in copyright are different, so a lower limit should be stipulated.

In order to solve the problem of the rights protection of the infringed obligee, the new law adds a work registration system, which provides convenience for the court to give evidence; At the same time, it has formed a document supply order system, improved the copyright management system, and strengthened the connection with other laws. For example, according to the requirements of some international treaties, the protection period of photographic works has been extended, which is as long as other works.