National Copyright Administration Publishes Draft of Internet Treaties Implementation Regulations

October 26, 2005

The National Copyright Administration (NCAC) has published an English-language version of the draft of the Regulations for the Protection of the Right of Communication on Information Networks on its Web site and has solicited public comments by October 31. The NCAC action in this case complies with a key WTO accession commitment to provide a reasonable period to comment on new trade-related measures and to provide a translation of all trade-related measures in one of the WTO languages.

After completing the drafting process, NCAC will submit the Regulations to the State Council, which will issue them to implement the terms of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Internet Treaties. At the annual meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the Chinese delegation committed to join the Internet Treaties by mid-2006. Those two treaties, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, commit Contracting Parties to protect copyrighted materials stored in electronic form.