China Restricts Unauthorized Use Of Digital Works As NFTs

China is looking to fight against online piracy copyright violation, and NFTs fit into the campaign. The East Asian country has noticed the increasing rate of online piracy, including unauthorized use of others’ digital works to create NFTs. In order to combat this, authorities in China are launching a new initiative to foster surveillance.

NCAC is looking to enhance copyright surveillance

The National Copyright Administration of China announced the development in an official press release Friday. According to the media release, the agency will be launching an initiative dubbed “Jianwang 2022” in tandem with four other authorities.

Generally, the initiative will involve a review of existing copyright laws to address new realities surrounding online piracy. Per the announcement, this review will particularly look into four areas of growing infringements in China. One of these areas involves non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The NCAC noted that it is looking to enhance its surveillance of the NFT industry in China. According to the agency, several creators of NFTs are in the practice of using others’ works to mint their collectibles without due authorization. These works may include art, music, games, animation, film and television. The agency mentioned that it would be cracking down on this abuse through the Jianwang 2022 campaign.

China has banned the issuance of NFTs in the form of financial instruments

Besides NFTs, the NCA of China will be addressing other areas of abuse in its review. These areas of abuse include unauthorized use of other people’s literary works to share information and unauthorized use of people’s works in online account creation. In addition, the review will also look at copyright protection for movies, audiobooks, and suchlike.

China remains one of the most hostile nations to the cryptocurrency industry. Though it has not outright banned NFTs, the country prohibited its issuance in the form of financial instruments in April. Often referred to as “digital collectibles” in the country, NFTs have seen a rapid adoption rate in China.

Reports of a massive surge in NFT adoption in the country surfaced in June. The reports suggested that the Chinese NFT industry had grown by over 5 times in four months. Additionally, major Chinese brands such as Tencent and Alibaba were looking to jump on the NFT craze with applications of trademark patents.