Copyright service unveiled at event

A one-stop online service system of copyright protection and trade was unveiled at the recent 2019 IP Global Licensing Conference.

Based on blockchain technology, the system called Banmaip provides business-to-business services regarding copyright certification, trading, circulation monitoring and protection, as well as derivative products' design and sales.

In the future, it will also function as a business-to-customer network, providing sales channels for individual designers to commercialize their works and a social network for them to exchange information.

Banmaip.com was initiated by the Beijing International Copyright Exchange Center under the joint effort of 16 national-level copyright trading centers and bases.

"A smart atmosphere of respecting original work and innovation has been formed in China," said Li Heng, secretary-general of the National Copyright Trading Centers Alliance, one of the organizers of the conference.

"Nowadays, the norm of pay-for-knowledge has become a hot spot on the internet, the market of derivatives in all kinds is booming and the general industry scale is growing rapidly," Li said. "The awareness of copyright protection has significantly improved."

In 2018, the market scale of China's online copyright industry reached 742.3 billion yuan ($104.9 billion), showcasing high-speed growth over the past decade, according to Deng Yuhua, a consultant from the China Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

In 2018, 3.5 million copyrighted works were registered in China and the number of registered software works surpassed 1 million, an increase of 26 percent over the past year, Deng said.

The conference also highlighted the launch of seven professional working committees, which will leverage their resources in creativity and copyright protection.

The committees will also provide legal services and commercialization channels to products in fields such as the film and television industry, museum-themed culture, intangible cultural heritage, ceramic craft and visual art.

A new copyright monitoring network for piracy detection worldwide also went online at the conference.

Yu Cike, director of copyright administration of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at the conference that copyright work has entered a new stage.

Copyright authorities will continue to support the use of IP and copyright commercialization, focusing on building a national-level copyright exhibition and authorization system, Yu said.