The National Copyright Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Information Industry held a press conference yesterday to announce the implementation of new Internet copyright regulations.

Named the "Internet Copyright Administrative Protection Rule", it was released on April 30 and will be formally implemented on May 30.

The new guidelines consist of 19 clauses covering the administrative and legal obligations of network service providers, and the punishment to violators.

Copyright proprietors will need to issue a written notice with relevant evidence to Internet service providers when they find their copyright has been violated. Internet service providers will then need to take immediate action to remove the concerned content after receiving the notice.

Internet content providers also have the right to send a counter-notice to the respective Internet service provider and concerned copyright proprietor proving the content is legal.