II.Registration of Music Copyright

To safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the copyright owner and provide preliminary evidence to solve copyright disputes, copyright owners of musical works may register their works.In China, methods of registering music copyright include but are not limited to the following contents: going through the registration at works registration authorities and their handling agencies, or on the websites of Music Copyright Society of China, or at copyright registration agencies.This section lists two ways of copyright registration and suggests that the relative subjects shall make preparations in advance to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

According to Interim Measures for Voluntary Registration of Works issued by the National Copyright Administration in 1994, copyright owners may directly apply for registration of works at the handling agencies (or to the registration authority if there is no above-mentioned agencies).The details such as names and addresses of specific works registration agencies and handling agencies can be found on the official website of the National Copyright Administration.China’s administration is divided into “provinces”, “cities” and other units.Different regions have different registration agencies, so the materials copyright owners need to provide are slightly different.However, the validity of the copyright ownership certification is national.Taking the Shanghai Copyright Association,the handling agency of the Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau (the plaque of Shanghai Copyright Bureau shall be hung at the Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau ) as an example, applicants may submit application materials to the above-mentioned agency, and the staff of the above-mentioned agency will review the copyright registration materials after acceptance.If the works pass the review, they will be announced online immediately and granted the Copyright Registration Certificate in 30 working days.There is no charge for registering works in Shanghai.Application materials for copyright registration include the following items: (1) an application form for work registration; (2) an application form for voluntary registration of works; (3) a description of voluntary registration of works; (4) a guarantee of rights for voluntary registration of works; (5) comparative samples for registration of works; and (6) documents certifying rights.(https://www.daowen.com)

In addition, the owner of a musical work may register online at the Chinese Music Copyright MORP digital music copyright registration platform.The materials that need to be provided are documents of lyrics, music scores and songs as well as author’s basic information and copyright information etc.The registration fee is RMB 45 yuan per work.If the owner of a musical work needs a written version of the certificate,he or she needs to pay another RMB 30 yuan per work.About 3 working days after registration, the owner shall receive the electronic version of the certificate if the registration is approved.