4月26日，著作权法修正案草案提交十三届全国人大常委会第十七次会议审议。这是现行著作权法自1991年施行以来的第三次修改。日前，人大代表和知识产权专家对这份草案发表了自己的意见和建议。

National legislators and experts on intellectual property rights have welcomed stronger protection of online copyrights and harsher punishments for copycats in newly released draft amendments to existing law while suggesting that some new types of infringements in cyberspace be further studied.

全国人大代表和知识产权专家对于新发布的著作权法修正草案中对网络著作权实行更强有力的保护和对侵权者实施更严厉的惩罚措施表示欢迎，同时建议进一步研究制定对一些新出现的网络侵权行为的法规。

"The current Chinese Copyright Law has neither caught up with economic, technological and cultural growth nor solved new problems in the industry," said Li Rui, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. "So it's urgent and necessary to revise the law."

全国人大常委会李锐委员表示，现行的著作权法已经不能适应我国经济发展、科技创新、文化繁荣的新形势和新问题，迫切需要加以修订。

Li's remarks follow the advice of the NPC Standing Committee, the country's top legislature, which deliberated on draft revisions to the law late last month.

李锐委员的意见和人大常委会的建议如出一辙。人大常委会正在审议上个月末提交的著作权法修正案草案。

The current law, which has been in effect for 30 years, had played an important role in encouraging innovation and protecting copyrights, Li said, "but it cannot give more legal support to new types of online copyrights, let alone end related disputes, even though it was amended in 2001 and 2010".

李锐表示，现行法律已经实行了30年，在鼓励创新和保护著作权方面发挥了重要作用，但是尽管经过了2001年、2010年两次修改，这部法律已经不能为新型网络著作权提供法律支持，更别提解决相关纠纷了。

Statistics released by the China Internet Network Information Center last month showed that there were 904 million internet users across the country by March, up 75.08 million compared with the end of 2018.

中国互联网络信息中心上个月发布的数据显示，截至2020年3月，我国网民规模为9.04亿，较2018年底增长7508万。

While witnessing a significant rise in the number of netizens, the nation is also seeing a big increase of IP-related conflicts online, especially copyright disputes.

在网民数量大幅增长的同时，国内的知识产权相关纠纷也大量增加，尤其是版权纠纷。

From Sept 9, 2018, to March 31, for example, the Beijing Internet Court filed 42,121 cases on online IP rights, more than 99 percent of which involved online copyright issues.

举例来说，从2018年9月9日到今年3月31日期间，北京互联网法院共受理知识产权案件42121件，其中99%以上为著作权案件。

"Online copyrights need stronger and quicker protection because more works, including novels, pictures and videos, are emerging online, and because of how fast information spreads on the internet," said Kang Lixia, a lawyer specializing in IP-related disputes at Beijing Conzen Law Firm.

北京从真律师事务所专门代理知识产权纠纷案的康丽霞律师说：“网络著作权需要更高效、更强有力的保护，因为越来越多的作品，比如小说、照片和视频，都是通过互联网迅速传播的。”

"If the online infringement cannot be stopped in a timely manner, the works' creators will face greater economic losses, as collecting evidence online for them is also a big challenge," she said, adding that highlighting protections for online copyrights in the latest draft is "essential and urgent".

她说：“如果不能及时停止侵权，这些线上作品的作者将面临更大的经济损失，因为对他们来说在网上固定证据也是挑战。因此，本次修正案草案对于网络著作权保护的提升是及时且必要的。”

The draft's full text has been published on the website of the NPC Standing Committee, which is soliciting opinions from the public and authorities.

修正案草案的全文已发布在全国人大常委会官方网站上，正在向公众和权威部门征集意见。

Kang also applauded the increased punishments in the draft, saying they posed a bigger threat to copyright violators and a more effective measure against piracy.

康丽霞对草案中加大处罚力度的条款也表示认可。她表示，这可以对版权违法者形成更大威慑，也可以更有效地打击盗版。

The draft stipulates that if a copyright owner clarifies the cost of using his or her works, people using the works without paying or those deliberately infringing on the copyright will be ordered to pay five times the cost in compensation.

草案规定，如果著作权所有人明确了版权使用费，侵权者将按确定数额的五倍给予赔偿。

In cases where the cost of infringing on a copyright is not clear or when the loss to copyright holders and benefits gained by infringers cannot be determined, the draft raises the ceiling for compensation that pirates will have to pay to 5 million yuan, up from 500,000 yuan.

权利人的实际损失、侵权人的违法所得、权利许可使用费难以计算的，该草案将法定赔偿额上限从50万元提高到500万元。

"The harsher punishment is fact-based and will improve the innovation, protection and application of copyrights," said Li Xueyong, another member of the NPC Standing Committee.

全国人大常委会李学勇委员说：“草案（提高赔偿额）体现了著作权工作的实际需要，有利于强化著作权创造、保护、运用。”

But he added that the draft still needs to be further amended, balancing copyright protection, technological innovation and internet development.

但他补充道，本次草案还有待完善，建议进一步协调好著作权法、著作权保护与网络技术发展的关系。

National legislator Yang Zhijin agreed, saying "we should give more respect to copyrights and also prevent those rights from being abused.

全国人大常委会杨志今委员也认为草案应进一步完善，他表示“既要让著作权得到充分的尊重和保护，也要防止权力滥用”。

Liu Xiuwen, another lawmaker, said there were a few problems -- such as how to protect copyrights on livestreaming platforms and whether works made by robots should be safeguarded -- that still had no clear solution, which requires us to conduct further studies and promote the draft in a timely manner".

全国人大常委会刘修文委员表示，互联网、信息化时代出现的一些新问题，比如如何保护直播平台的著作权，以及机器人或人工智能产出的“作品”是否属于作品，在现实中确实存有争议，在目前的草案中也尚未有清晰的说明。这需要我们进一步研究，及时完善草案。