SPC Amends Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Copyright Disputes
Date: 20 August 2026
The SPC issued the Decision on Amending the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Copyright Dispute (Fa Shi [2026] No. 18), which was adopted at the 1976th Meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC on 25 May 2026, and will take effect on 1 September 2026. The principal amendments are as follows:
- Clarifying what is meant by a work being made ‘available to the public’. The qualifying phrase ‘by the copyright owner on his/her own initiative or upon the permission of the copyright owner’ has been deleted from Article 9 of the previous Interpretation. As a result, a work will be made available to the public even if its disclosure is the result of an infringing act committed by another person.